Boil advisory issued for multiple Richmond neighborhoods
By George Copeland Jr.
What You Should Do
What You Should Avoid Never
Stating names
U.S. Navy veteran Henry Mack stands in solemn reflection as the names of nearly 12,000 Virginians who died in battle from World War II to the present are read aloud during the inaugural “Say Their Names Marathon” at the Virginia War Memorial on Monday, May 26. More photos, A4.
Months
Excessive
The advisory expanded Tuesday evening to neighborhoods served by the Cofer Road Tank in South Side, including Ancarrow’s Landing, Blackwell, the Commerce Road Industrial Area, Hillside Court, Manchester and Windsor.
Residents and workers quickly resumed familiar precautions, clearing store shelves of bottled water for drinking and cooking.
“We can’t live without good water,” said Craig Straine, a barber on Brookland Park Boulevard. “It definitely needs to be addressed and fixed.”
Nearby counties Chesterfield, Henrico and Hanover reported no boil advisories after adjusting their systems, with Henrico and Richmond opening emergency operation centers in response.
As of Wednesday afternoon, the City was conducting a second water quality test. Mayor Danny Avula said during a Tuesday evening press conference the advisory could be lifted by Thursday afternoon if both tests show no contamination.
Avula acknowledged residents’ frustrations over another boil
Wise Street site now believed to contain as many as 742 graves, according to a recent survey.
Poll shows Spanberger with 17-point lead over Earle-Sears
By Charlotte Renee Woods
Former congresswoman and Democratic nominee for governor Abigail Spanberger fared better with voters than current lieutenant governor and Re-
showing Spanberger leading Earle-Sears 43%-26%. This follows another poll published last week showing Spanberger with a 4-point lead over Earle-Sears. The Institute for Policy and Opinion Research at Roanoke College interviewed 658 Virginia residents between May 12 and May 19 to determine that Span-
berger leads Earle-Sears by 17 percentage points. Meanwhile, another new poll commissioned by business organization Virginia FREE conducted between May 9 and May 13 shows independent voters favoring Spanberger 53%-47%. That poll included 1,000 participants. The Roanoke College poll’s margin of error is 5.25%. While the sample sizes of the polls is much smaller than the number of people who are likely to participate in November’s statewide election, polls conducted sporadically leading up to elections can point to partisan tides. The Roanoke College poll
also explored key issues that could affect both campaigns such as the national deficit and debt, political anxiety and the job approval of the current president and governor.
More than half of polled
voters, 51%, think “things in Virginia have gotten off on the wrong track,” while 66% held the same sentiment about the country as a whole. Voters also had mixed feelings about leadership in the state and country,
with Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s job approval rating coming in at 46%, which Roanoke College noted as “his lowest and down seven points since November.”
Please
South Carolina Confederate soldiers who reportedly died in a temporary hospital across the street from the substation’s location. Related research to the survey, according to City officials, suggests the site was established in 1857 by
Demonstrators in city push for end to Gaza violence
By George Copeland Jr.
More than a dozen protesters gathered last Friday at the intersection of Belvidere and Broad streets to condemn the Israeli military’s recent ground operation in Gaza and the ongoing conflict.
Signs, posters and a flag were carried by a diverse group of participants, including Palestinian-American and Jewish-American residents, a military veteran and other citizens throughout the early morning.
All attendees were critical of the conflict, the human toll and the United States’ role, and called for an end to the war with chants that could be heard over the traffic, as drivers passing by occasionally honked their horns in support.
“We will continue to push on many fronts,” Chesterfield resident Adeeb Abed said. “We will continue to protest, we will continue to push our elected officials to take a stand, we will
Tripp Hillian/Richmond Free Press
Julianne Tripp Hillian/Richmond Free Press
Demonstrators gather at the intersection of Broad and Belvidere streets on Friday, May 23, to protest the ongoing Israeli
Julianne Tripp Hillian/Richmond Free Press
Mayor to unveil new CAO pick June 6 as interim leaders step in
By George Copeland Jr.
Days after interim Chief Administrative Officer
Sabrina JoyHogg stepped down, Richmond officials have announced who will fill her roles — both temporarily and permanently.
Mayor Danny Avula is set to introduce his choice for the city’s next permanent CAO on June 6, the same day Joy-Hogg departs as interim CAO and Deputy CAO for Finance and Administration. The selection follows a months-long national search.
Mayor Avula struck an optimistic tone in the announcement: “Richmond, get excited! I cannot wait for you to meet your new CAO. I promised to conduct a national search for a top-talent CAO, I’ve kept that promise, and I know this one is a home run.”
The announcement also revealed that Sharon Ebert, deputy CAO for planning and economic development, has been named acting CAO. Ebert joined Richmond’s City government in 2019 and brings decades of experience to the role. She has been involved in major projects such as the Richmond 300 master plan and the redevelopment of the Diamond District.
“Sharon has a whip-smart, encyclopedic knowledge of what makes cities work,” Avula said. “I’m so thankful she’s willing to step in for a short time before our new CAO officially starts.” Henrico County’s Deputy County Manager for Administration W. Brandon Hinton will serve as Richmond’s acting deputy CAO for finance and administration. Hinton began his career in Henrico as a budget analyst in 2003 and has held a range of leadership roles over more than 20 years. He is expected to return to Henrico later this summer.
City Council is expected to vote on the new CAO’s appointment, as well as Ebert’s acting role, during its June 9 meeting. As of now, it’s unclear when the new CAO will officially start or how long Ebert will remain in the interim position.
Richmond opens applications for $500 monthly income program
City’s Resilience Initiative supports single-parent households
Free Press staff report
Applications are open for the fourth cohort of the Richmond Resilience Initiative, a guaranteed basic income program offering $500 per month to eligible residents for two years.
The program, launched in 2020 by the City of Richmond’s Office of Community Wealth Building in partnership with the Robins Foundation, aims to reduce financial instability for working families. The initiative is part of a broader national movement that includes Mayors for a Guaranteed Income, founded by former Stockton, Calif., Mayor Michael Tubbs.
This year’s cohort will focus on single parents, including guardians with custody, step-parents, foster parents and others serving as primary caregivers.
Officials say participants in previous cohorts have used the monthly payments to cover essential expenses, reduce debt, pursue education, and improve overall family stability.
“In Richmond, we believe everyone has a right to thrive, not just survive,” Mayor Danny Avula said. “The Richmond Resilience Initiative reflects our ongoing commitment to creating a city where families have the stability and support they need to build a better future. This is about trust, dignity and ensuring our residents have the resources to move forward with confidence.”
Applications will be accepted through June 30. City residents can check eligibility and apply online at go.rva.gov/rri-2025 For more information, contact the RRI team at rri@rva.gov.
Early voting
Richmond voters can cast their ballots at the Office of Elections at 2134 W. Laburnum Ave., City Hall at 900 E. Broad St. and Hickory Hill Community Center at 3000 E. Belt Blvd. Voting hours are Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.,
on June 7 and June 14
p.m.
residents
vote at the Henrico Western
Center at 4305 E. Parham Road and the Eastern Government Center at 3820 Nine Mile Road from Monday
a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The Varina Library at 1875 New Market Road will open a voting location starting Monday, June 2, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. All locations also will be open on Saturday, June 7, and June 14 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Five mail drop boxes are accessible at the Administration Annex building at the Henrico Western Government Center, the Eastern Government Center, Deep Run Park Recreation Center at 9900 Ridgefield Pkwy., the Varina Library and the Tuckahoe Area Library at 1901 Starling Drive. Chesterfield County is hosting early voting at the Central Library at 7051 Lucy Corr Blvd. until Saturday, June 14, Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday, June 7, and June 14 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
A drop box for mail-in ballots and curbside voting for those with disabilities or those age 65 and older also is available. Another drop box is available at the Office of the General Registrar at 9848 Lori Road from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m on weekdays until Friday, June 13, on Saturdays, June 7 and 14, and Monday, June 16, from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Early voting in Hanover County is held in the Wickham Building at the Hanover Courthouse Government Complex at 7497 County Complex Road from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and Saturday, June 7, and 14 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Curbside voting options available for handicapped and voters over the age of 65 is available.
A ballot drop off station is on site at the Wickham Building until Tuesday, June 17, at 7 p.m.
No excuse is needed to vote early in Virginia. Bring an acceptable form of ID or be prepared to sign an ID confirmation statement. For more information, visit elections.virginia.gov.
Cityscape
De Vargas named CFO of Live! Casino Virginia
Free Press staff report
Bruce Smith Enterprise and The Cordish Companies have named Yanina De Vargas as chief financial officer for Live! Casino Virginia, a temporary gaming facility expected to open by the end of 2025.
The interim site, which will include a casino bar, a restaurant and parking for 1,000 vehicles, is part of a larger $1.4 billion plan to develop a mixed-use resort in Petersburg. Once operational, the temporary casino will feature 75,000 square feet of gaming space with 900 slot machines and
33 live table games. It will remain in use while construction continues on the permanent Live! Casino & Hotel Virginia, scheduled to open in 2027.
De Vargas previously served as vice president of finance at MGM Northfield Park in Ohio, where she led companywide financial operations, capital planning and process improvements. In her new role,
she will oversee budgeting, forecasting, financial reporting and compliance, as well as manage revenue tracking, cost control and risk assessment.
“We are incredibly fortunate as a company to have a CFO as qualified and ready as Yanina,” said Penny Parayo, senior vice president and general manager for Live! Casino Virginia. “This project will jumpstart job creation and supplier partnerships in Petersburg while delivering meaningful economic impact to the city from day one.” For more information, visit valive. casino.
Johnson named president of Danville Community College
Free Press staff report
Cornelius Johnson was recently appointed the eighth permanent president of Danville Community College, the Virginia Community College System announced Tuesday.
VCCS Chancellor David Doré said Johnson’s appointment follows a national search that drew 79 candidates. Johnson has served as interim president at DCC since Dec. 1, 2024, and will begin his new role July 1.
“We know that Dr. Johnson will definitely hit the ground running,” Doré said. “He has been serving as interim president at Danville since last December and has been on DCC’s core leadership team since 2021.”
Johnson previously served as vice president of academic affairs and student
services at DCC from 2021 to 2025. He has more than 27 years of experience in higher education, including roles as dean of student success at El Centro College in Dallas, interim dean of student development at Lone Star College-Tomball in Houston, and program manager at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. He has also held faculty positions at Indiana State University, the University of Texas at Dallas, the University of Houston-Downtown and the University of Houston.
“Dr. Johnson’s appointment as president of Danville Community College marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter,” said
By Markus Schmidt
Consumer sentiment in Virginia continues to slide, reaching its second-lowest level on record, according to the latest quarterly report by the Institute for Policy and Opinion Research (IPOR) at Roanoke College, released Wednesday.
“While the labor market remains strong and wage growth is outpacing inflation, uncertainty is weighing heavily on consumers, particularly around tariffs,” said Alice Louise Kassens, Roanoke College’s John S. Shannon Professor of Economics and senior analyst at IPOR. “This uncertainty is reflected in both short- and long-term inflation expectations, which remain elevated despite recent easing in actual inflation rates.”
The Virginia Index of Consumer Sentiment fell to 63.6 in the second quarter of 2025, continuing a 13-point slide over the past six months and marking the secondlowest reading since the index began in 2011. The drop underscores growing unease among Virginians, particularly surrounding the economic consequences of new tariffs and the general direction of the national economy.
Kassens warned a continued slide in sentiment could soon translate into concrete economic consequences.
“Consumer spending, which drives nearly 70% of economic activity, has remained robust, albeit tempered,” she said. “However, if sentiment continues to decline, we may see a pullback in spending that could slow economic growth or even trigger a recession.”
That warning comes despite some signs of strength in the broader economy. The labor market remains resilient, and Virginia workers are seeing wage increases that exceed inflation. Average wage growth in the commonwealth is currently 3.8%,
compared to 2.3% inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index. This gap suggests increased purchasing power for households, a key support for ongoing economic activity.
Still, many Virginians remain cautious.
Just 20% of respondents said their household finances are better today than they were a year ago, while 30% expect improvement over the next year. Meanwhile, 32% anticipate worsening conditions, and 59% believe the next few years will be marked by economic difficulty.
Short-term inflation expectations remain stubbornly high, even as actual inflation continues to moderate. Many survey respondents indicated they were accelerating purchases of big-ticket items like refrigerators in anticipation of higher prices to come. In fact, 37% said it was a good time to buy such durable goods, citing concern over the inflationary effects of tariffs.
“Despite months of easing inflationary fears in the commonwealth over 2024, the inflationary effects of tariffs are keeping short-term inflation expectations elevated,” the report notes. “These concerns can have a chilling effect on the economy as consumers and businesses experience difficulty in financial planning.”
The Virginia Index of Current Conditions, which measures sentiment about personal finances and buying conditions today, declined 2.2 points from last quarter to 60.8. That remains slightly above the national index, a trend that continued in future expectations as well. The Virginia Index of Consumer Expectations held at 65.4 — unchanged from the previous quarter — while the national index dropped nearly 18 points to 46.5.
Kassens said that disparity may point to some localized resilience.
“The divergence between Virginia and national sentiment, where Virginia remains
Kathryn Roberts, chair of the DCC Advisory Board. “With his extensive experience in higher education and dedication to student success, he embodies the values that will lead DCC to new heights.” Johnson earned an associate degree from Seattle Central Community College, a bachelor’s from the University of Washington, a master’s from Indiana State University, and a doctor of education from the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor. He also is a graduate of the American Association of Community Colleges’ Future Presidents Institute.
“I look forward to leading and working alongside our dedicated faculty, staff and community partners as we write the college’s next chapter in advancing our mission and expanding opportunities for every student and community member we serve,” Johnson said in a statement.
more optimistic, suggests regional resilience, but that could be tested if inflationary and uncertainty pressures persist,” Kassens said. “As we move into the second half of 2025, the trajectory of consumer sentiment will be a key indicator to watch.”
The results are based on a representative sample of 719 Virginia adults surveyed between May 12 and May 19. The survey was conducted using a combination of phone interviews (including landlines and texts to mobile phones) and an online panel.
The phone sample was drawn by Marketing Systems Group using random digit dialing, while the online panel was managed by Cint USA. Responses were statistically weighted to reflect the gender, age, and racial demographics of Virginia according to the 2023 American Community Survey.
Regional quotas were also applied to ensure proportional representation across different areas of the state. About 38% of completed phone and text-to-web interviews came via mobile phones. Interviews were conducted in English, and attention checks were built into the online questionnaire to ensure quality responses.
The continued decline in consumer confidence — despite economic indicators that might otherwise encourage optimism — suggests that psychological factors such as uncertainty and inflation fear may be outweighing hard data in shaping household expectations.
Kassens emphasized that while wage growth and job availability remain bright spots, sentiment will be a key factor to watch as the year progresses.
“We’re at a critical juncture,” she said. “If consumers lose confidence in their ability to spend and plan ahead, it could create ripple effects that weaken an otherwise sturdy economic foundation.”
This story originally appeared on Virginia Mercury.com.
W. Brandon Hinton
De Vargas
Cornelius Johnson
NPR sues
over Trump order cutting off its funding, citing First Amendment
Virginia is home to 30 NPR stations
By Jennifer Shutt
A collection of National Public Radio stations sued the Trump administration Tuesday, seeking to block an executive order that would cut off their federal funding.
The 43-page filing states the order President Trump signed earlier this month “violates the expressed will of Congress and the First Amendment’s bedrock guarantees of freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom of association, and also threatens the existence of a public radio system that millions of Americans across the country rely on for vital news and information.”
The executive order called on the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which receives its funding from Congress, to cease sending money to the Public Broadcasting Service and NPR.
The order stated government funding for public media “is not only outdated and unnecessary but corrosive to the appearance of journalistic independence.”
The Trump administration also appeared to take issue with the types of news stories that PBS and NPR report, arguing “that neither entity presents a fair, accurate, or unbiased portrayal of current events to taxpaying citizens.”
“Viewpoint-based discrimination”
The lawsuit states the executive order has an “overt retaliatory purpose” and “is unlawful in multiple ways.”
“The Order is textbook re
tion and editorial discretion,” the lawsuit states. “Lastly, by seeking to deny NPR critical funding with no notice or meaningful process, the Order violates the Constitution’s Due Process Clause.”
The lawsuit was filed by NPR along with three Colorado stations — Aspen Public Radio, Colorado Public Radio and KSUT Public Radio — in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The case has been assigned to Judge Randolph D. Moss, who was nominated by then-President Obama.
White House Deputy Press Secretary Harrison Fields wrote in a statement that the “Corporation for Public Broadcasting is creating media to support a particular political party on the taxpayers’ dime.
“Therefore, the President is exercising his lawful authority to limit funding to NPR and PBS. The President was elected with a mandate to ensure efficient use of taxpayer dollars, and he will continue to use his lawful authority to achieve that
throughout the United States, was established as a private “nonprofit corporation” and is not “an agency or establishment of the United States Government,” according to the lawsuit.
Power of the purse
Congress has consistently approved funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting on a bipartisan basis, including its current $535 million appropriation.
The lawsuit contends the “loss of all direct funding from CPB and the loss (or significant decline) of revenue from local stations would be catastrophic for NPR.”
It also states the president “has no authority under the Constitution to” interfere in funding decisions made by lawmakers.”
“On the contrary, the power of the purse is reserved to Congress, and the President has no inherent authority to override Congress’s will on domestic spending decisions,” the lawsuits states. “By unilaterally imposing restrictions and conditions on funds in contravention
Colette McEachin
Richmond Commonwealth’s Attorney
AN EXPERIENCED LEADER DELIVERING SAFETY AND JUSTICE FOR
ALL.
As Richmond Commonwealth’s Attorney, COLETTE MCEACHIN:
Reduced crime rate, especially for violent crime Keeps Richmonders safe Keeps illegal guns off our streets Engages our community for public safety Initiated progressive criminal justice reform
Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom
The National Public Radio headquarters in Washington, D.C., is pictured on Tuesday, May 27.
Boil advisory issued for multiple Richmond neighborhoods
advisory and communication challenges but promised ongoing updates.
“This is the challenge when you have a dynamic situation,” he said. “I know that at times that’s going to frustrate people, because these situations are dynamic and the information is going to change.”
The cause of the filter clogging remains unclear. DPU Director Scott Morris said an after-action review will be conducted with the Virginia Department of Health in the coming weeks. Additional reporting by Mekhi Wilson.
Memorial Day ceremony
of Manchester and later used for military burials from 1861 to 1862, with onsite burials predating the creation of Maury Cemetery in 1874.
In 2023, over $16,000 in improvements were made around the marker, from new fencing to a bench. City officials said, after questions were raised over the decision, that improvements were made in response to a resident looking to honor their ancestor.
Mike Sarahan, a former City Attorney’s Office employee who has criticised the marker and other Confederate memorials in Richmond, challenged that explanation with research that identified the person who made the request, their ancestor and their service record.
The initial results of the survey cast further doubt on the ancestor’s presence among the graves, as City officials stated in emails that “unfortunately, records of the individuals buried at the site do not exist.” According to Sarahan, the person who requested the improvements has since said they’d prefer the remains moved from the DPU substation to a cemetery.
The full report is expected to be released “in the coming days,” City sources said, and an access plan for the site is in the works.
“I wish people had listened to [them] three years ago,” Sarahan said in an email to the Richmond Free Press on the survey’s results. “I wouldn’t have had to spend the last two years raising objections to the showcasing of the marker in such an inappropriate manner.”
President Donald Trump’s job approval rating, 31%, was low but not his lowest. Participants also weighed in with their approval and disapproval of Youngkin’s successor. Spanberger rated 41% favorable/40% unfavorable, similar to how polled voters rated her last November, while Earle-Sears’ favorability dropped from her previous rating and stands at 32% favorable/48% unfavorable. About one-fifth of respondents did not offer opinions on either candidates’ favorability.
The voter anxiety index from the Roanoke poll is 89.41, and reflects big shifts in how Virginians in both parties perceive the current state of government. Democratic voters’ anxiety skyrocketed from -10.39 in May 2024 to 101.77 last November, with a current anxiety index of 153.35. Meanwhile, Republican voters’ anxiety index decreased last year, from 166.59 in May to 13.52 in November 2024, and now stands at -30.10. These figures reflect political anxiety correlates closely with partisan control of the White House and Congress.
call them out on every step, on every bill, on every cent that they support to support this genocide.”
The protest was sponsored by the Virginia Defenders for Freedom Justice & Equality, Richmond for Palestine and the Virginia Commonwealth University chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine and came days after the ground operation in Gaza began. The demonstration was the latest in a series of protests in Richmond responding to the war, including an encampment at VCU last year that ended with police dispersing the crowd and arresting 13
people on charges of unlawful assembly and trespassing. Those charges were later dropped in the following months.
Rallies and student walkouts protesting the conflict have continued to be held in Richmond since, and the war has been among the issues discussed during assemblies hosted by groups such as 50501 Virginia. Residents also have brought their concerns to Richmond officials during City Council meetings. A key focus of last Friday’s protest was U.S. support for the Israeli military, with attendees criticizing the use of their tax dollars and questioning the ethics of American involvement in this and other Middle East conflicts.
Attendees also voiced concern over the government prioritizing war funding while affordable healthcare, housing and other critical needs remain unmet across the country.
“If we are the wealthiest nation on the planet, and if this is supposed to be the most powerful nation on the planet, then why aren’t we solving the problems?” Virginia Defenders and Sacred Ground Project member Ana Edwards asked. “Why are we constantly feeding into the chaos?”
A 5K event supporting mental health services for refugee children in Gaza is scheduled for Saturday, May 31, from 9 a.m. to noon, beginning at the Vita Course in Byrd Park.
With Virginia’s gubernatorial election falling the year after a presidential election, the past two decades have shown that voters typically elect a governor who is the opposite party of the one who won the White House the year prior.
On national debt perceptions, a large majority of Virginians, 42%, are very concerned, while 40% said they are somewhat concerned. When it comes to the cause of the national deficit, a majority, 61%, thinks it is a result of spending too much, while 34% think it’s from not raising enough money through taxes.
When asked how to address the deficit, 74% of respondents favor raising taxes for people earning more than $400,000 annually, while 82% oppose across-the-board tax raises for everyone. Seventy-one percent of respondents oppose wholesale spending cuts.
“Six months in a gubernatorial election season is an eternity in politics, but one would prefer to be ahead by 17 points,” said Harry Wilson, interim director for IPOR and professor emeritus of political science at Roanoke College.
He added that more than a quarter of Virginians are still undecided voters — which could be good news for both candidates.
“Spanberger is obviously leading at this point, and she
leads among independents, but a large number of Republicans are undecided, and they will most likely end up voting for Earle-Sears,” Wilson said.
“The favorable rating for Earle-Sears, however, should be cause for concern.”
This story originally appeared on VirginiaMercury.com.
Julianne Tripp Hillian/Richmond Free Press
Several Richmond organizations — including Richmond for Palestine, the VCU chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine, and the Virginia Defenders for Freedom, Justice & Equality — gather at the intersection of Broad and Belvidere streets on Friday, May 23, to protest the Israeli ground operation in the Gaza Strip.
Julianne Tripp Hillian/Richmond Free Press
Shoppers arrive at the water aisle of the Kroger on Lombardy Street on Tuesday to find empty shelves following a boil water advisory issued by the City of Richmond.
Photos by Julianne Tripp Hillian/Richmond Free Press
The Virginia War Memorial hosted its 69th Annual Memorial Day ceremony on Monday, May 26, to honor those who gave their lives in service to the country. The event included wreath presentations by veteran service organizations and the inaugural “Say Their Names Marathon,” where nearly 12,000 names of fallen Virginians from World War II to the present were read aloud.
The Virginia War Memorial ceremony honors and remembers men and women who gave the ultimate sacrifice in service to the country, from the Revolutionary War to the present day. Below, military service members salute during the presentation of the colors at the Virginia War Memorial during the Memorial Day ceremony.
Charles Rangel, longtime Harlem congressman and political trailblazer, dies at 94
By Deepti Hajela and Cedar Attansio The Associated Press
Former U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel of New York, an outspoken, gravel-voiced Harlem Democrat who spent nearly five decades on Capitol Hill and was a founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus, died Monday, May 276, 2025, at age 94.
His family confirmed the death in a statement provided by City College of New York spokesperson Michelle Stent. He died at a hospital in New York, Stent said.
A veteran of the Korean War, he defeated legendary Harlem politician Adam Clayton Powell in 1970 to start his congressional career. During the next 40-plus years, he became a legend himself as dean of the New York congressional delegation and, in 2007, the first African American to chair the powerful Ways and Means Committee.
He stepped down from that committee amid an ethics cloud, and the House censured him in 2010. But he continued to serve in Congress until his retirement in 2017.
Rangel was the last surviving member of the Gang of Four — African American political figures who wielded great power in New York City and state politics. The others were David Dinkins, New York’s first Black mayor; Percy Sutton, who was Manhattan Borough president; and Basil Paterson, a deputy mayor and New York secretary of state.
“Charlie was a true activist — we’ve marched together, been arrested together and painted crack houses together,” the Rev. Al Sharpton, leader of the National Action Network, said in a statement, noting that he met Rangel as a teenager.
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York issued a statement calling Rangel “a patriot, hero, statesman, leader, trailblazer, change agent and champion for justice who made his beloved Harlem, the City of New York and the United States of America a better place for all.”
Rangel’s voice was memorable
Few could forget Rangel after hearing him talk. His distinctive gravel-toned voice and wry sense of humor were a memorable mix.
That voice — one of the most liberal in the House — was loudest in opposition to the Iraq War, which he branded a “death tax” on poor people and minorities. In 2004, he tried to end the war by offering a bill to restart the military service draft. Republicans called his bluff and brought the bill to a vote. Even Rangel voted against it.
June 16, 2016,
A year later, Rangel’s fight over the war became bitterly personal with then-Vice President Dick Cheney.
Rangel said Cheney, who has a history of heart trouble, might be too sick to perform his job.
“I would like to believe he’s sick rather than just mean and evil,” Rangel said. After several such verbal jabs, Cheney hit back, saying Rangel was “losing it.”
The charismatic Harlem lawmaker rarely backed down from a fight after he first entered the House in 1971 as a dragon slayer of sorts, having unseated Powell in the Democratic congressional
primary in 1970. The flamboyant elder Powell, a city political icon first elected to the House in 1944, was ill and haunted by scandal at the time.
In 1987, Congress approved what was known as the “Rangel amendment,” which denied foreign tax credits to U.S. companies investing in apartheid-era South Africa.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton noted that he urged her to run for the Senate in 2000. Former President Bill Clinton recalled working with Rangel in the 1990s to extend tax credits for businesses that invest in economically distressed areas.
The House censured him over ethics violations
Rangel became leader of the main taxwriting committee of the House, which has jurisdiction over programs including Social Security and Medicare, after the 2006 midterm elections when Democrats ended 12 years of Republican control of the chamber. But in 2010, a House ethics committee conducted a hearing on 13 counts of alleged financial and fundraising misconduct over issues surrounding financial disclosures and use of congressional resources.
He was convicted of 11 ethics violations.
The House found he had failed to pay taxes on a vacation villa, filed misleading financial disclosure forms and improperly solicited donations for a college center from corporations with business before his committee.
The House followed the ethics committee’s recommendation that he be censured, the most serious punishment short of expulsion.
“Committed to fighting for the little guy” Rangel looked after his constituents, sponsoring empowerment zones with tax credits for businesses moving into economically depressed areas and developers of low-income housing.
“I have always been committed to fighting for the little guy,” Rangel said in 2012. Rangel was born June 11, 1930. During the Korean War, he earned a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star. He would always say that he measured his days, even the troubled ones around the ethics scandal, against the time in 1950 when he survived being wounded as other soldiers didn’t make it.
It became the title of his autobiography: “And I Haven’t Had a Bad Day Since.”
A high school dropout, he went to college on the G.I. Bill, getting degrees from New York University and St. John’s University Law School.
Richmond Free Press
The People’s Paper
You created the perfect business cards and you have more orders than you can handle, so what’s next? As your business banking partner, we’re here to find solutions that will work for you.
AP Photo/Lauren Victoria Burke, File
In this
file photo, Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., speaks at a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. Rangel retired after more than four decades in office.
Richmond Free Press
Nor any drop to drink …
Those words come from “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” a poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, one of the founders of the English Romantic movement. Written in 1798, it describes the plight of sailors stranded at sea, surrounded by undrinkable saltwater.
This week, the City of Richmond once again placed its citizens in a predicament not unlike those seafarers from long ago. On Tuesday afternoon, as a light drizzle fell, the City informed residents on the North Side and in other areas that their tap water wasn’t safe to drink. The “boil advisory” instructed people to heat their water to kill any impurities.
It might as well have referred to the rising anger and frustration among residents.
Perhaps anticipating a heated City Council meeting that night, officials at 900 E. Broad St. decided to postpone it. I wouldn’t blame them — an audience of angry citizens and city leaders without clear answers rarely leads to productive dialogue, though it can produce some memorable soundbites. One council member said the cancellation stemmed from health and safety concerns following the outage. Either way, it was probably the right call.
This water crisis feels like a summer rerun we could do without. Just like in January, some residents noticed something was wrong before the city sent out a warning. And again, the city’s response appeared to shift as new messages contradicted earlier ones. The list of affected neighborhoods kept growing, even as officials said they were making progress.
It seems the city’s infrastructure — and its communication protocols — are buckling under pressure.
Judging by the empty shelves at local stores, many residents may have used up their emergency supplies during the last boil advisory. This latest disruption is a reminder of the old axiom: “Stay ready and you don’t have to get ready.” The potential health risks from drinking contaminated water are nothing to play with.
In the coming days, we’ll hear from City officials about who knew what and when — and why the public wasn’t informed sooner. Expect technical jargon about water pressure, treatment plants, and sediment. Maybe someone will resign. Here’s your spoiler alert: it all ends with Mayor Avula drinking a glass of North Side tap water in front of cameras.
It shouldn’t take another advisory, another scramble for bottled water, or another photo op to remind City leaders of their basic responsibility. Clean water isn’t the gold standard — it’s the baseline.
Until Richmond gets that right, we’re not unlike the mariner’s cursed crew: surrounded by water and still thirsting for better.
Vote early
Since 2020, Virginians have been able to vote early without an excuse. Before this change, made by the General Assembly, voters were required to have a good reason for not standing in line with the rest of us on Election Day. How many of us remember those days? Voting was inconvenient and often discouraging for those juggling jobs, school or caregiving duties.
Extending the early voting window to 45 days before an election was a major step forward. It brought Virginia’s election process into the modern era — one that recognizes the demands of everyday life and the importance of democracy.
The last day for early voting in the primary is Saturday, June 14. While the president is not on the ballot, there are a lot of things at stake in this election. Local and state races may not grab national headlines, but they often affect our lives more directly, from school funding and public safety to housing policy and infrastructure.
The ballot is ready. The clock is ticking. Vote early and like your future depends on it.
Lillies in North Side
Lawmakers show the power of good trouble
Two years ago, the Tennessee Three (Reps. Justin Jones, Justin Pearson,and Gloria Johnson) gave us their version of “good trouble” when they led a protest from the floor of the state legislature chamber. While the Tennessee lawmakers may have violated House chamber rules, and the drastic and radical response may have been uncomfortable for some, it served as a needed wakeup call to do something for a change.
In this case, the “good trouble” was motivated by the call for tighter gun control laws after three 9-year-olds and three adults were killed in a mass shooting in Nashville. The “thoughts and prayers” response by Republicans hasn’t been sufficient in stopping the long string of mass shootings. Right now, Tennessee and all of America could use a large dose of “good trouble” to confront the administration’s Project 2025 agenda, a tariff trade policy filled with uncertainty and the heartless “Big Beautiful Bill.”
The midterm elections will be here in 18 months, and while President Trump will not be on the ballot in 2026, many of his House and Senate enablers will be. John Rose is a MAGA
enabler who currently represents Tennessee’s 6th Congressional District and is set on becoming the state’s next governor. The Congressman, like the Tennessee Three, is an elected official representing a state with one of the highest poverty percentages in the nation. They represent a state with the highest hospital closure rate per capita. In a Vanderbilt University post-election poll, registered voters in Tennessee voiced overwhelming support for Medicaid expansion, includ-
ing 55% of MAGA Republicans. In a speech before the Republican Women of Williamson County, Rose referenced the blitz of executive orders.
The plan should be to weaken Trump by making his enablers pay the political price for the economic chaos impacting Red and Blue America. Rep. Rose, in his speech, told us what we already knew. He is bold in his speech as he talks about the other side (Democrats) being twisted in knots about what the president is doing, but have his Republican constituents finally figured out he is also referring to them being negatively impacted by Project 2025? It is time for poor, working-class, and middleclass whites—en masse—to see the reality when they choose their racial status over their economic
status. When they think certain things are only holding back Black and brown people, they are also holding back white individuals and families.
If the American voters from both parties stay informed and understand the full impact of a tariff-driven economy, the elections should spell additional trouble for any GOP official who supports an economic policy surrounded by so much uncertainty. The blame for needless hardships experienced by Americans should be placed at the feet of enablers like Rose.
They should feel the political backlash when stores such as Walmart and Target start to have empty shelves due to tariffs. The Trump administration is already looking for ways to cover the full damage. Soon after Walmart announced prices would increase on multiple items, Trump blasted the retailer on social media by accusing it of blaming his tariff agenda for higher prices. During news interviews, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he spoke with Walmart CEO Doug McMillon, and the company would reportedly take some of the hit. “Walmart will be absorbing some of the tariffs; some may get passed onto the consumers,” Bessent said, according to The Associated Press.
Tennesseans said they want to expand Medicaid coverage, yet they could face having a
Trump’s grudge against South Africa based on fiction
I can hardly think of President Trump and Africa without also remembering his global insult to underdeveloped nations.
In a 2018 Oval Office meeting, you may recall, he grumbled aloud about why this country would ac cept more im migrants from “s—holes” in Haiti and Af rica rather than places like, say, Norway.
With that in mind, I had low expecta tions for his first meeting last week with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. I anticipated an attempt at televised humiliation much like the spectacle Trump sprang on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in February.
The meeting was called ostensibly to smooth strained relations between the two countries, but Trump used it to advance his own agenda.
Trump contends white South African farmers are being murdered in a racially motivated genocide, and that the South African government has permitted itself to seize their land. He has amplified these false claims since as long ago as 2018, when he seemed to have picked it up from Fox News host Tucker Carlson.
It was the basis of his dismissal earlier this year of South Africa’s ambassador to the U.S. — who’d had the temerity to point out the racist overtones of Trump’s allegations — and of his executive order to cut off aid to South Africa. He also used it as a justification
to grant 59 white South Africans refugee status to the United States while he continues to vilify, arrest and remove immigrants who came here from other countries.
The Oval Office meeting with Ramaphosa had barely begun when Trump ordered the lights dimmed to play purported documentary footage he described, in
his special Trumpian way, as like “no one has seen before.”
The video screen offered images that included body bags and graves that Trump claimed contained dead white farmers.
Trump also brandished printed handouts including a blog post purporting to document genocidal atrocities. He flipped through the pages intoning “death … death.”
There is no denying that South Africa has a persistent violent crime problem. Yet, while data available on the country’s violent crime indicate that farmers of all racial groups are disturbingly vulnerable to theft and violence, they do not clearly support race as a factor.
Ramaphosa pointed out most of the republic’s violent crime victims are Black. In response to the images shown, he said that he would like to find out what the location was.
Trump interrupted, saying: “The farmers are not Black. They happen to be white.”
Ramaphosa responded: “These are concerns we are willing to talk to you about.”
It will surprise no one that the grisliest images used in Trump’s
visual aids were not indeed from South Africa. They were Reuters images from the Democratic Republic of Congo, the news service confirmed. Specifically, they came from the city of Goma, where an insurgency has been raging, and they were published in February.
We know this now, because some institutions in this country still care about the facts, even if our president and his powerful political movement do not.
In that moment, Ramaphosa could hardly refute the images, but he kept his cool.
He had come with a plan.
Perhaps most effectively, Ramaphosa allowed others to speak for him. He had brought impressive company. His delegation from South Africa included luxury goods tycoon Johann Rupert and champion golfers Ernie Els and Retief Goosen. Both complimented Ramaphosa’s leadership, perhaps more persuasively, to Trump’s golf-loving heart, than any other South African could have.
Now the next chapter in South Africa’s history is being written by a new generation with remarkably high hopes. They don’t need outsiders to churn up more racial animosity based on false pretenses. They have enough real problems to tackle — in multiracial coalitions, one hopes.
Meanwhile, our president is solidifying his image as a global leader of white identity politics. He and his movement may deny it, but his message is as clear as a bell.
The writer is a columnist for the Chicago Tribune.
Congressman in John Rose who voted to cut Medicaid on the ballot for governor. If people in his state and around the nation are suffering economically, then the political price should be paid by lawmakers in states such as Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama and West Virginia. These red states are some of the nation’s poorest, yet their representatives can get away with not protecting their citizens’ health and economic well-being. Democrats may need to cause some radical “good trouble” to tap into the political anger already displayed during the Republican town halls. The 2026 midterm elections could see Republican enablers regret that they betrayed the people back home. They can hide from a town hall, but not an election. The writer is the founder of the faith-based organization TRB: The Reconciled Body.
Clarence Page
David W. Marshall
Justice is undermined when power goes unchecked
Earlier this month, U.S. Rep. LaMonica McIver of New Jersey’s 10th District visited the Delaney Hall Detention Facility in Newark, joined by fellow U.S. Reps. Bonnie Watson Coleman and Rob Menendez. Their goal was clear and constitutional: to conduct oversight of a federally operated immigration detention center that has drawn widespread concern over its conditions and its connection to an alarming rise in unjust arrests, particularly of Black and brown immigrants. Instead of being met with transparency, these elected leaders were confronted by masked, militarized federal agents. What should have been a routine and lawful inspection escalated into a disturbing clash—one that ended with Rep. McIver
charged with a crime for doing the very job the people elected her to do. Let us be clear: This is not about law enforcement. It’s about power—who holds it, who questions it, and who gets punished for doing so.
Glynda C. Carr
These charges are not rooted in justice; they are rooted in retaliation. This administration is sending a message: When Black women lead with integrity and courage, they will be met not with respect, but with resistance and reprisal.
Delaney Hall is a facility that already has come under scrutiny for its treatment of detainees, many of whom are immigrants of color. In this climate, oversight is not just appropriate—it is imperative. Rep. McIver’s presence there was an act of service to her constituents and to the democratic principles she swore to uphold.
The Department of Justice may attempt to frame this prosecution as impartial law enforcement. But we know better. When lawfully elected officials—especially Black women—are met with force, criminalized for oversight and punished for defending their communities, it is not justice. It is authoritarianism.
This moment is not just about Rep. McIver. It’s about the dangerous precedent this administration is setting—one where holding institutions accountable is met with intimidation and punishment. It reflects a deeper, enduring pattern in this country: the policing of Black bodies and the systemic discrediting of Black leadership, especially when that leadership challenges injustice.
If visiting a detention facility can get a member of Congress charged, what hope do ordinary citizens have of being heard, protected or treated with dignity?
Rethink the Fall Line Trail before it’s too late
As a resident of the 3rd District, I strongly object to the currently planned route of the Fall Line Trail through Bryan Park. This section of the trail raises several serious concerns. First, there has been no clear explanation for why Bryan Park—one of our city’s most cherished green spaces—is the only city park being affected by the trail. Most of the Fall Line Trail uses existing roadways, making the detour through Bryan Park an unnecessary exception.
Second, the planned route makes an abrupt diversion off Brook Road, which already has a dedicated bike lane, into the park, only to reconnect with Brook Road later. This detour appears arbitrary and inefficient, and a clear, publicly accessible map showing the trail’s full route through the city has not been made available.
Third, to date, there is no funding identified for the section of the trail as it exits Bryan
Park, raising questions about how and when the route will be completed and at what cost to the community.
Given these issues, I respectfully request that City Council investigate and publicly report the rationale for routing the Fall Line Trail through Bryan Park. I also ask that the trail instead be routed along Brook Road, where bike infrastructure already exists. Additionally, City Council should exercise active oversight of the Department of Public Works and ensure transparency in all aspects of the trail’s development.
This project has the potential to benefit the city, but only if it is planned and executed with public input, environmental sensitivity and fiscal responsibility. Bryan Park deserves thoughtful protection, not unnecessary disruption.
SUSAN LAVERTY Richmond
We refuse to be silent. We know Black women have always led movements for justice. We know the power of our voice, and we will not allow it to be silenced by political prosecutions or weaponized law enforcement.
The writer is the president and CEO of Higher Heights for America, a national organization dedicated to building Black women’s political power and leadership.
Proposed Project:
This project will address pedestrian access and saf ety to the Scott's Addition BRT Stations by constructing sidewalk, ADA accessible ramps and other pedestrian and streetscape amenities within the half-mile walkshed of the BRT station. T he project aims to increase accessibility and improve overall pedestrian/public safety in the neighborhood.
Plan Review: Project plans, and the National Environmental Policy Act document can be provided for review by request. Please contact Olayinka Bruce at Olayinka.Bruce@rva.gov or 804-6462312 or call Andrew Smith at Timmons Group (804) 200-6491. Please call ahead to ensure the availability of appropriate staff to answer your questions.
Written Request:
By this notice, the City of Richmond is indicating its willingness to hold a public hearing for the project if individual concerns cannot be addressed. A request for a public hearing to be held may be made by sending a written request stating your concerns to the address below on or before June 9, 2025
Olayinka Bruce Richmond Department of Public Works 900 E. Broad Street, Room 603 Richmond, VA 23219
Further Notice: If a request for a public hearing is received, and the concerns addressed in the request cannot be adequately resolved, a public hearing will be scheduled at a time and place to be advertised in a future notice.
Questions or Special Assistance: Questions regarding this project should be directed to Olayinka Bruce using the contact information above. The City of Richmond and VDOT ensure nondiscrimination in all programs and activities in accordance with Title VI and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Any persons with questions on the accessibility of the facility or need reasonable accommodations should contact Olayinka Bruce at 804-646-2312.
Courtesy of the McIver campaign
Congresswoman LaMonica McIver
Henrico to host A-10 Women’s Basketball Championship through 2029
Free Press staff report
The Atlantic 10 Conference is extending its stay in Henrico County.
The A-10 announced Wednesday it will continue holding its Women’s Basketball Championship at the Henrico Sports & Events Center through 2029, solidifying the venue as the tournament’s home for at least five consecutive seasons.
The extension builds on the success of the championship’s first appearance at the 185,000-square-foot facility in 2024 and is expected to bring continued economic and community benefits to the Richmond Region.
“The Henrico Sports & Events Center has been an exceptional host for the Atlantic 10 Women’s Basketball Championship,” said A-10 Commissioner Bernadette V. McGlade. “From a first-class venue for our student-athletes and coaches to the fan experience and overwhelming support from Henrico and Richmond Region Tourism, HSEC will continue to be an outstanding home for the championship.”
The center, located at the redeveloped Virginia Center Commons site, seats up to 3,500 fans and features championship-level amenities, including pro-style locker rooms, a broadcast-ready setup and the same hardwood floor used in the 2023 NCAA Men’s Basketball South Regional. Since opening in December
2023, it has become a cornerstone of Henrico’s $100 million sports tourism initiative.
The original agreement brought the A-10 tournament to Henrico from 2024 through 2026. The new deal adds 2027, 2028 and 2029 to that slate.
“This extension is a testament to the success we’ve built together and the high-caliber events the Henrico Sports & Events Center was designed to host,” said Dennis Bickmeier, executive director of the Henrico Sports & Entertainment Authority. “The Atlantic 10 Women’s Basketball Championship has delivered tremendous energy and economic benefit to our community.”
Henrico first secured the championship in partnership with
Panther Golfer qualifies for VSGA Amateur, State Open
Free Press staff report
Virginia Union University golfer Joseph Boone has secured a spot in two of the state’s premier golf tournaments following a strong performance during a qualifying round on Tuesday, May 20.
Boone, a rising junior and member of the 2025 All-CIAA Golf Team, shot an evenpar 71 to place third among 92 players at Lakeside Park Club in Richmond. His finish earned him qualification for both the 2025 Virginia State Golf Association (VSGA) Amateur Championship and the 2025 State Open of Virginia.
The top 10 finishers in the qualifier advanced to the VSGA Amateur, while the top five secured spots in the State Open.
Boone, who has played in the No. 2 and No. 3 positions for VUU’s golf team during the 2024-25 season, will compete in the 112th VSGA Amateur Championship at Birdwood Golf Course at Boar’s Head Resort in Charlottesville. The tournament is scheduled for June 23 to 27.
He will also take part in the State Open of Virginia, to be held July 18-20 at Independence Golf Club in Midlothian.
The 54-hole event is played on a par-71, 7,055-yard course and includes a cut to the low 60 players and ties for the final round.
“This is an excellent opportunity for Boone and the VUU golf team—and for the CIAA Conference—to be represented in both the State Amateur and State Open,” said Coach E. Lee Coble.
VIA
Richmond Region Tourism. Jerrine Lee, the group’s vice president of sales, said the region’s basketball tradition, fan engagement and proven record of hosting major events were key in helping land the extension.
“Following successful A-10 Women’s Basketball Championships in 2024 and 2025, and with excitement building for 2026, we are thrilled the Richmond region will host this premier event for an additional three years,” Lee said.
The A-10 includes 15 schools across nine states and Washington, D.C., with local members University of Richmond and Virginia Commonwealth University. Tournament games are broadcast on ESPN+, CBS Sports Network, Peacock and ESPNU.
VCU’s Nyk Lewis invited to USA Basketball U19 training camp
Free Press staff report
Incoming VCU freshman
Nyk Lewis has been invited to the USA Basketball U19 National Team training camp next month in Colorado Springs, Colo. Lewis, a 6-foot-1 guard from Washington, D.C., is one of 33 players selected to compete for a spot on the 12-man roster for the 2025 FIBA U19
Men’s World Cup. The tournament will be held June 28 to July 6 in Lausanne, Switzerland.
The training camp is set to begin June 14 at the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Training Center. The final roster is expected to be announced prior to the team’s departure on June 23. Lewis starred at Gonzaga College High School in Washington and played for Team Takeover on the Nike EYBL circuit. He is ranked No. 55 in the Class of 2025 by 247Sports.com. Camp participants include players who just completed their freshman year of college or are members of the 2025 and 2026 high school graduating classes. Final roster selections will be made by the USA Basketball Men’s Junior National Team Committee. The U.S. has won the FIBA U19 Men’s World Cup eight times, most recently in 2021. Spain captured the title in 2023.
Flying Squirrels drop third walk-off of series after late rally falls short
Free Press staff report
The Richmond Flying Squirrels were held hitless into the eighth inning before taking a brief lead, but ultimately fell 3-2 in walk-off fashion to the Binghamton Rumble Ponies on Saturday night at Mirabito Stadium.
Richmond (13-30) suffered its third walk-off loss of the series against Binghamton (2517), despite a two-run rally that broke up a no-hit bid and flipped the lead late in the game.
Binghamton starter Zach Thornton carried a perfect game through 6.1 innings and struck out six. Reliever Anthony Nunez took over and recorded the final two outs of the seventh before walking Drew Ellis and Cal Mitchell to open the eighth. After a sacrifice bunt and a strikeout, Sabin Ceballos
Heritage Association names Hall of Fame Class of 2025
Free Press staff report
The VIA Heritage Association will honor seven new members in its Hall of Fame Class of 2025, recognizing outstanding athletes and contributors who helped shape Virginia’s African American high school sports during segregation.
The Virginia Interscholastic Association was the governing body for athletics and extracurricular activities for Black high schools before public school integration. The VIA Heritage Association preserves and celebrates this legacy.
The 2025 Hall of Fame inductees include athletes James Eric Hammond of South Side High School in Dinwiddie, Shirley Marshall Lee of Parker Gray High School in Alexandria, the
Rev. Charles Roberts of Douglas High School in Leesburg, and Larry Short of South Side High School. Contributors named are Sharon Bonner Yates of South Side High School, Calvin Pearson of Phenix High School in Hampton and Ray V. Spain of Union Kempsville High School in Virginia Beach.
“The Hall of Fame is a testament to the resilience, talent and dedication of those who shaped the history of the VIA,” said James Hollins, president of the VIA Heritage Association. “We are honored to recognize these individuals and their contributions to our community.”
The new inductees will be recognized at the VIA Heritage Association Awards Banquet in Charlottesville on June 20. For more information, visit viaheritage.com.
delivered a two-out, two-run double to give Richmond a 2-1 lead and end the no-hitter.
The Rumble Ponies answered in the bottom of the ninth. Nick Garcia (2-2) allowed a double and a walk before a double steal put both runners in scoring position. After striking out Kevin Parada for the second out, Garcia gave up a game-winning two-run double to Wyatt Young. Alex Carrillo (2-1) picked
up the win for Binghamton, pitching a scoreless top of the ninth despite allowing two hits.
The Rumble Ponies struck first in the fourth inning when JT Schwartz walked and scored on a two-out double by William Lugo off Richmond starter Manuel Mercedes. Mercedes allowed one run on three hits with a season-high six strikeouts over five innings.
Cameron Cotter added 1.1
scoreless innings in relief for Richmond.
The Flying Squirrels wrapped up the six-game road series with a doubleheader Sunday afternoon, losing both games to the Ponies. Richmond returns to The Diamond next week for a sixgame homestand against the Harrisburg Senators, DoubleA affiliate of the Washington Nationals, beginning Tuesday.
Global stage awaits VSU’s Kellee Craig at Botswana tournament
Free Press staff report
Virginia State University volleyball standout Kellee Craig has been selected as one of 18 student-athletes from eight HBCUs to represent the United States in the second annual Ditsala International Cup in Botswana.
The tournament, set for May 29 through June 1 in Gaborone, brings together top collegiate athletes from the U.S. and national teams from across Southern Africa. Hosted by Bring It Promotions and the Botswana Volleyball Federation, the event offers elite competition and encourages cultural exchange through sport.
This year’s U.S. contingent includes players from Alabama State, Bowie State, Elizabeth City State, Hampton, Morgan State, Norfolk State, Virginia State, and Winston-Salem State universities. Two additional teams of U.S. players from 14 other colleges will also compete.
“This is a game-changing moment for these young women,” said Ingrid Wicker McCree, who will co-lead
the delegation. “For many, it’s their debut on the international stage, and the opportunity to showcase their talents while representing their universities, communities and HBCU athletics worldwide is incredibly exciting.” McCree, a retired NCAA Division I athletic director and founder of WM Leadership & Legacy Coaching, will lead the group alongside Deitre Collins-Parker, a former Olympian and current assistant coach with the San Diego Mojo. The tournament kicks off a three-country tour that includes volleyball clinics and coaching workshops in Francistown and Kasane. The athletes also will visit local landmarks, including the Mokolodi Game Reserve, Khama Rhino Sanctuary, and Chobe River and will travel through Zambia and Zimbabwe with a final stop at Victoria Falls. In addition to competition and cultural immersion, players will meet with U.S. diplomats at the embassy in Botswana to learn more about sports diplomacy and international engagement. All matches will be livestreamed on BallerTV at ballertv.com.
Julianne Tripp Hillian/Richmond Free Press
Richmond’s Ally Sweeney (14) controls the ball during a 63-58 win over Duquesne in Game 8 of the A-10 Women’s
Basketball Championship on Friday, March 7, at the Henrico Sports & Events Center. The tournament will remain in Henrico through 2027 under a new Atlantic 10 deal.
Joseph Boone
Cameron Carter
Memorial Day marks the beginning of summer fun, with City-operated pool openings offering extended holiday hours. SwimRVA, a nonprofit known as the community hub for aquatics in the Richmond region, aims to keep kids safe throughout pool season and “drown-proof” the Richmond area by teaching every child to swim.
The American Red Cross estimates that one in six Americans doesn’t know how to swim, but cautions that this number could be low since many people overestimate their swimming ability.
According to studies conducted by USA Swimming and the University of Memphis, 70% of Black Americans can’t swim. In comparison, 31% of white people don’t know how to swim. Researchers attribute the disparity to systemic racism, segregation and ongoing social and economic barriers. These disparities contribute to Black children drowning at rates four times higher on average than white children, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Funded by anonymous and private donors, SwimRVA’s Drownproof Richmond initiative, launched in 2013, works to teach every child in the Richmond area how to swim.
The program, in partnership with the YMCA of Greater Richmond, works with 32 elementary schools across the region, including six Richmond public schools — Bellevue, Chimborazo, Fairfield, Marsh, Swansboro and Woodville — to offer second-graders 45-minute swim classes for seven weeks during school.
SwimRVA’s programs also include swim lessons for all ages, lifeguard training and certifications, pool operator courses, fitness classes, summer swim camps, competitive swim, artistic swimming and water polo. There are four locations in the area — North Chesterfield, Meadowbrook, North Henrico and Church
Personality: Sophie King
Spotlight on executive board member of SwimRVA
Hill — with partner pools in Hopewell, Mechanicsville and Petersburg.
Leading the organization’s board is Sophie King, a professional runner and former competitive swimmer. She brings not only athletic experience but also a strong academic foundation, with a bachelor’s degree in biology, physiology and neurobiology and a master’s in public health.
One of a set of quadruplets, King grew up in an active household that nurtured her athletic drive. While her siblings gravitated to other sports, swimming became her own pursuit — a space where she could carve out her individual path. Today, she draws from that foundation to help shape a safer, more equitable future for young swimmers in the region.
What is it like being one of a set of quadruplets? They are my biggest inspiration, influencing who I’ve become. We feel more comfortable with each other than by ourselves. We’re a part of each other. We are constantly competing with each other. It’s not intense competition, though. It’s pure love — more like drive.
When did you start running marathons?
My first marathon was the 2021 Richmond Marathon. I did it because my dad used to do it. He’s immobile now due to multiple strokes and has dementia. He wanted one more shot, so I started training for him. Less than two years later, I made the Olympic Trials. In 2024, I finished seventh in the U.S. Championships. Unfortunately, I was injured and had to undergo surgery, forcing me to withdraw. It was a tough setback, but I didn’t let it define me. I’m now setting my sights on 2028.
You’ve said that your most significant accomplishment was learning to pursue pos sibilities over practicality. Can you expand on that?
thought twice about it. It was exciting, but it didn’t satiate me. I felt like something was missing. Then I started running and found the courage to pursue the possibility of doing well in the marathon instead of the practicality of med school. I’d have to choose between the two because both are demanding pursuits. Running became something that fueled me. It was more important than medical school.
Why did you choose to swim competitively at UConn?
I wanted to venture out beyond Virginia. My other siblings stayed in Virginia for college, which made it hard for me to leave. I learned about myself. My family’s love for basketball and running was palpable, but I found my path in swimming. It became more than a sport to
me. It became a part of my identity. What is SwimRVA?
We build social bridges through our partnerships with civic leaders, schools, community groups and amazing organizations like the YMCA, the Salvation Army Boys & Girls Clubs and Virginia State University through aquatics that cross physical, racial and economic barriers. We promote water safety, health and fitness, sports tourism, competitive aquatics and possibilities for all Richmonders.
Tell us about SwimRVA’s Drownproof initiative. We’re working with the YMCA of Greater Richmond to give every secondgrader in our city the chance to learn how to swim through a unique station-based program designed by the coaches of the U.S. Olympic Swimming Team. We provide 45-minute lessons once per week for seven weeks to the entire second grade of every school we work with. Why did you get involved in SwimRVA?
Board members approached me. It is an honor to be surrounded by such incredible leaders in the Richmond area. They motivate me and remind me that possibilities are endless. I took the position because if I can make an impact, I’m going to do it. In my master’s program, I learned that we must impact as widely as possible.
What is your role as board chair for SwimRVA?
In addition to shaping development strategies, I actively participate in SwimRVA events and fundraising efforts and serve as an ambassador for the organization in the broader community. I also help secure funding for the organization, along with members of the development committee. We do this by leveraging our personal networks and influence and making our own financial contributions. I find it unique that the entire SwimRVA board makes personal donations to the organization.
What are your hobbies and interests outside of running and swimming? I recently bought a house in Forest Hills, so I am renovating the kitchen and one bathroom. I’m also doing a lot of decorating.
Why did you pursue a master’s in public health?
I wanted to make sure I had a well-rounded view of health and science, including the social, economic and other factors that contribute to the practice
“Redbone” by Childish Gambino
What’s your favorite scripture?
“To whom much is given, much is required.” Favorite book?
“All the Light We Cannot See.” by Anthony Doerr. Favorite movie?
“Pulp Fiction.”
What’s your No. 1 goal? My biggest personal goal is to make the Olympic Team for 2028.
Going to medical school was a goal for me. I started applying to different schools and never of medicine. What do you do as an operations coordinator at the National Cancer Institute/ National Institutes of Health? I work on any project involving the production of literature on the safety and efficacy of cancer treatments for doctors. For example, we provide summaries on our websites and coordinate conferences. Our agency has been affected by the current federal cutbacks, so my job is much more challenging now. What’s your favorite song?
Jessica Bell Brown charts new course for Richmond’s contemporary art hub
By Don Harrison
The new executive director of the Institute for Contemporary Art at Virginia Commonwealth University has big plans.
Among other things, Jessica Bell Brown wants the ICA to develop a new strategic plan, produce more traveling exhibitions, obtain the highest museum accreditation, and foster more successful partnerships like its active VPM + ICA Community Media Center.
Most of all, she wants Richmond’s contemporary art showplace to grow.
“We are in a new era, right?” she said last week. “We have to think comprehensively about growing our audience.”
The former curator and head of contemporary art at the Baltimore Museum of Art, Brown has been in Richmond six months. But a speech last Wednesday in the ICA auditorium was really her public introduction. She told a crowd of supporters and patrons she’s excited to lead the modern art museum at the most “critical and most exciting juncture” in its seven-year history. As part of Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of the Arts, she said the museum is poised to be “a launching pad for innovative projects that get us to think about climate sustainability, biodiversity, urban planning and behavioral health.”
Her address also served as a state-of-themuseum speech that spotlighted recent successes, like a 42% increase in attendance — 19,166 total visitors — and the emergence of the ICA’s first traveling exhibition, “Dear Mazie,” a group show assembled by the museum’s head curator
Amber Esseiva.
Brown outlined the institution’s goals, including implementing a new strategic plan by the end of the year and seeking accreditation by 2028 from the American Alliance of Museums. She also discussed future partnerships, such as one with the neighboring CoStar Center for the Arts and Innovation, now under construction. That facility will be an active collaborator with the museum once it opens in 2027.
What won’t change, Brown said, are the kind of edgy and provocative exhibits patrons came to expect under the leadership of outgoing Executive Director Dominic Willsdon — an often challenging mix of modern art, particularly from African and Latin American artists.
“We’re going to continue to lean into our programming,” she said after the speech. “In terms of changes, it will be additive, not subtractive.”
Most of all, Brown wants more people to come inside the futuristic building at Broad and Belvidere streets.
“It’s about finding new opportunities to be in alignment with different audiences,” she said. “That puts us in a position to be even more robust programmatically.”
The ICA is a non-collecting institution that features rotating exhibitions and programs, mostly curated in-house. With an annual budget of $4.1 million, the museum is funded through a combination of sources, including Virginia Commonwealth University’s Educational and General Fund and private donations. Its next major exhibit, opening June 27, is “Ayida,” a group assembly described as “celebrating the
Free Press staff report
The Library of Virginia will hold two free book talks this summer focusing on lesserknown stories from the Revolutionary era, part of its programming to mark America’s 250th anniversary.
On Thursday, June 12, from 6 to 7:30 p.m., author and journalist Andrew Lawler will discuss his new book, “A Perfect Frenzy: A Royal Governor, His Black Allies, and the Crisis that Spurred the American Revolution.” The talk will explore the overlooked history of Lord Dunmore, Virginia’s royal governor, who is often depicted as a villain for opposing patriots and burning Norfolk in 1775. Lawler’s book sheds light on how these events connect to modern issues such as race, gun control, immigration and urban-rural divides. This event coincides with the 250th anniversary of Dunmore’s abandonment of the Governor’s Palace in Williamsburg. Registration is required on the Library of Virginia’s website, lva.virginia.gov. Lawler, based in Asheville,
Caribbean and its diaspora.”
“The ICA exemplifies what the arts should be in the city of Richmond, nationally and internationally,” VCU School of the Arts Dean Carmenita Higginbotham said in her introduction of Brown. “There is no one better positioned to lead this moment, this opportunity, that the ICA offers. I find Jessica to be warm, engaged, brilliant, committed and dedicated to the future of the arts in Richmond.”
Brown holds a master’s in modern and contemporary art from Princeton University and a bachelor’s in art history from Northwestern University. She has published widely on contemporary art and has co-curated several acclaimed exhibitions, including the award-winning national touring exhibit “A Movement in Every Direction: Legacies of the Great Migration.”
At the Baltimore Museum, she also helped bring in major gifts and built relationships with private foundations and donors. There are hopes she can do the same in Richmond.
Free Press staff report
The Richmond Jazz and Music Festival is set to bring a wave of sound and energy to the city Aug. 8, 9 and 10.
The three-day event will feature a mix of jazz, soul and R&B artists including T.I., Jodeci, Muni Long, Masego, Ceelo Green, Aloe Blacc, Marsha Ambrosius, October London, Dru Hill, Raheem DeVaughn, Kirk Whalum and Mindi Abair, Norman Brown, Hot Like Mars, Charles Owens, Alexander Mack and others.
Produced by Richmond-based JMI, the festival has grown since 2010 into one of the region’s major music events, drawing national acts such as Chaka Khan, The Roots and Jill Scott in past years.
This year’s festival is sponsored by Dominion Energy, with support from Altria, Virginia Tourism Corporation and Richmond Region Tourism.
art
press release, the featured artists “boldly reclaim and redefine” concepts of beauty and glamour through a diverse range of expressions.
N.C., also is the author of “The Secret Token: Myth, Obsession, and the Search for the Lost Colony of Roanoke” and “Under Jerusalem: The Buried History of the World’s Most Contested City.” He has written for the New York Times,
“Jessica wants to be front and center in the development process,” said Pamela Kiecker Royall, president of the museum’s advisory board and chair of its development committee. “She has a really strong vision for getting sponsorships for exhibitions. I’m personally fired up about her plans for the ICA.” In the current political environment, the new executive director is aware the contemporary art world has to meet the moment. But Brown said she’s not going to push anything — she’s going to trust the artists.
“We go where artists go, where artists enter. So meeting the moment means continuing to lean into what we do and do well, producing new work, embracing the challenge of bringing new work into formation. It also means listening. Our mission is to listen, to create and to make art public. Our programs, our exhibitions, our partnerships will create that opportunity.” This article originally appeared on Styleweekly.com.
Visit RichmondJazzandMusicFestival.com for more information.
Meanwhile, another longtime Virginia festival returns next month.
The Hampton Jazz & Music Festival reemerges June 27 through 29 at the Hampton Coliseum. The lineup includes Patti LaBelle, PJ Morton, Anthony Hamilton, Lucky Daye, Maysa, Lalah Hathaway, Keith Sweat, SWV, Jeff Bradshaw, Mike Phillips, Gladys Knight, Stephanie Mills and Damien Escobar.
First launched in 1970 through a collaboration between Hampton University and the City of Hampton, the event — formerly known as the Hampton Jazz Festival — has long drawn large crowds and major performers. Since its founding in 1968 as a celebration of Hampton University’s 100th anniversary, the festival has grown into a staple of the East Coast music scene.
Additional information is available at HamptonJazzandMusicFestival.com
Washington Post, National Geographic, and Smithsonian magazine. The second talk will feature Richmond author Alan Pell Crawford discussing his book, “This Fierce People: The Untold Story of America’s Revolutionary War in the South,” on Wednesday, July 9, from noon to 1 p.m. Crawford’s work highlights the southern battles of the Revolutionary War, showing how the campaign there directly led to the British surrender at Yorktown. He challenges the common perception the war was mainly fought in the North and argues the southern conflict was America’s first civil war, involving loyalists and patriots. Registration is required at lva. virginia.gov. Both events will include book signings.
Photo by Scott Elmquist
Jessica Bell Brown, executive director of the ICA at VCU, speaks at the museum on Wednesday, May 21.
Andrew Lawler Alan Pell Crawford
Julianne Tripp Hillian/Richmond Free Press
Concertgoers enjoy a performance by Ludacris at last year’s Richmond Jazz & Music Festival at Maymont Park.
Five years after George Floyd’s murder, church leaders say race relations face retrenchment
By Adelle M. Banks Religion News Service
Bishop W. Darin Moore of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church remembers what it was like in the days after the 2020 murder of George Floyd.
“You saw initiatives being taken by churches, by governmental entities or by corporations to acknowledge first, and then to confront and then to improve racial relations,” he recalled.
Now, said Moore, the leader of Eastern North Carolina churches of his historically Black denomination, most of the work to ensure Black history is taught appears to be happening in Black churches. That’s in part due to backlash against what he termed the “bogeyman” critics created as they opposed diversity, equity and inclusion efforts and critical race theory — two concepts that have become politically polarizing terms in recent years.
A new Pew Research Center study found that 27% of Americans surveyed in February 2025 said the increased focus on issues of race and race inequality led to changes that improved the lives of Black people after the death of Floyd, a Black man from Minneapolis. He died when white police officer Derek Chauvin held his knee on Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes. Chauvin was convicted in 2021 of Floyd’s murder, and three other officers were found guilty of other related charges.
However, almost threequarters (72%) said the newfound focus on racial matters did not have a great influence on improving Black lives. Back in 2020, 52% thought it would, according to Pew.
Across denominations and races, clergy are noticing the emphasis shifting away from race relations that occurred in the wake of Floyd’s death. They’ve seen temporary improvements and then retrenchment but say efforts nevertheless continue to foster understanding and bridge divides.
“Right after George Floyd and Breonna Taylor and others were murdered, there was this swell of people of all different skin hues that came together and marched and made statements,” said the Rev. Jean Hawxhurst, a white United Methodist ecumenist who is president of Churches Uniting in Christ.
“Right now, we’re kind of in a complacency,” noting what she views as racist attitudes of the current Trump administration “welcoming in Afrikaners and
not welcoming in people with darker colored skin.”
The CUIC committed in 2023 to a three-year period focused on anti-racism, has had quarterly dialogues and may have related book studies in the future. Asked if she sees a change in the relationships between predominantly white and mostly Black churches in her circles, Hawxhurst said, “I wish I could say I had definite examples of yes. I think what I see is the hope. I’m not sure I see yet the living out.”
Walter Kim, the National Association of Evangelicals president, said after an initial “incredible jump in engagement and participation” in racial justice and multiethnic ministries, there was a realization of how complicated the issues are. He said there is a “recalibration” occurring regarding how there are not merely Black and white dimensions to reconciliation, but the need to also involve a range of ethnic groups, including Asian, Hispanic and Native American communities.
For instance, Kim said the NAE found that recent opportunities for in-person interaction were more effective than the online “Racial Justice Assessment Tool” it created in 2023 to provide suggestions of books and online courses based on individual Christians’ answers to a brief survey.
For the last two years, the NAE has held a spiritual retreat with evangelical leaders of color, who often work in
predominantly white spaces, for “encouragement and swapping of best practices to stay involved in the long-term labor.”
And in 2024, the NAE gathered dozens of leaders, about 40% white, 40% Black and 20% of other backgrounds, for a forum and tour of
The Legacy Museum and other Montgomery, Alabama, properties of the Equal Justice Initiative, including the National Memorial for Peace and Justice, created to remember thousands of lynching victims. Some of the Black participants discovered the names of their forbears, prompting collective lament, Kim said.
“We’re entering deeply into each other’s story and finding some deep points of resonance,” said Kim, who is Asian American, recalling a small-group discussion he had with Native American, African American and Jamaican American leaders that has led to greater attention and activism on policy issues such as water rights and deportation threats.
Bishop Derek Grier, the founder of the upcoming third annual National Unity Weekend — a Christian event aimed to
facilitate unity among different races and ethnicities — said “only time will tell” if religious efforts focused on intentional interactions between evangelical leaders of different racial and ethnic groups will lead to a lasting solution.
More than 100 churches across two dozen states have signed up for the events of the weekend June 7 and 8, which will feature churches distributing food in predominantly minority communities with the help of charities such as the faith-based Convoy of Hope. A similar number of churches took part in 2023 and 2024, he said.
“Last year, we distributed over 100,000 pounds of food,” said Grier, who is Black. “This year, we hope to do almost as much, however, we’ve expanded it to include shoes and haircuts.”
But the organization’s related “Let’s Talk” Zoom discussions that began in 2022, with Asian, African American, Hispanic and white evangelical leaders discussing personal experiences, have lost participation over time, Grier said. They used to attract around 60 people and now have about half that many logging in
to the regular sessions.
Marshall Blalock, a member of the steering council of Unify Project, a racial reconciliation initiative started by two former Southern Baptist Convention presidents, said he is concerned it may be difficult for some clergy to broach topics related to race relations due to the current political climate.
“Some of the politics of our country right now have labeled certain efforts toward racial reconciliation in political terms, and that’s made pastors more reticent to help push toward the racial reconciliation for fear of being labeled in some way,” Blalock said.
He has pastored First Baptist Church of Charleston, S.C., for 28 years and said his congregation is used to his preaching about bridging divides.
“It’s not always easy to take this path, but it’s also true that I believe the gospel requires us to take this path,” he said.
Unify Project focuses on building relations between local pastors of different races, encouraging them to meet over meals and build trust as they determine ways to help their communities by gathering their congregations together at least once a year and working on joint service projects at least annually.
“Unify doesn’t make statements that would polarize anybody,” Blalock said, adding he and other project leaders are working to help restart some reconciliation efforts that have stalled.
Well before 2020, religious groups had taken steps toward reconciling among races and protesting racism. The Southern Baptist Convention adopted a landmark racial reconciliation resolution on its 150th anniversary in 1995, and the National Council of Churches held the A.C.T. to End Racism Rally, seeking to “awaken, confront and transform” on Washington’s National Mall in 2018, on the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Religious leaders now plan to take part in events marking the fifth anniversary of Floyd’s death on May 25, including the Rev. Al Sharpton at a private memorial service at Floyd’s gravesite; vigils in Washington and Springfield, Massachusetts, with moments of silence for nine minutes and 46 seconds; and a “George Floyd Angel-versary event” at an Evangelical Lutheran Church in America-affiliated congregation in Minneapolis. Moore, the AME Zion bishop who spoke at the 2018 rally as the NCC’s chair, said the regression now seen after advancements in race relations and calls for improvements for Black Americans is not new. It also happened, he noted, when Jim Crow laws followed the post-slavery Reconstruction period, and when Donald Trump was elected president after Barack Obama was voted in as the first Black president.
“There’s going to come progress out of all of this anti-DEI and -CRT, all of this resentment that has been infecting this country,” he said. “We’re going to resist, persist and we’re going to advance and come out in a better place. So we are honest about the conditions that we’re facing, but we are not hopeless about what we’re facing.”
AP Photo/Ethan Swope
People embrace while attending a march remembering George Floyd on Wednesday, May 21, in Los Angeles.
Derek Grier
1858
The Ebenezer
Asani Ka-Re, a 12th-grader at Meadowbrook High School, models her design inspired by Sand Hills in Grünau during the Teen Stylin’ 2025: Authenticity event at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts on May 4. Below, Mia Robinson, a homeschooled 10th-grader, models her design inspired by Pein de Coeur during the runway exhibition where students showcased garments inspired by VMFA’s collection. The event capped a 12-week program that included workshops with local fashion designers and studio arts instructors.
newspaper within twenty (20) days after the entry of the Order of Publication; 4. That the Defendant, Christine Joy Serrano Sedon, appear at the above-named court and protect her interests on or before June 10, 2025; and it is FURTHER ORDERED this Order of Publication shall be published for four (4) consecutive weeks in the Richmond Free Press, a newspaper of general circulation in this County prescribed by this Court. A Copy, Teste: EDWARD F. JEWETT, Clerk I ASK FOR THIS: Christopher H. Macturk (VSB #40071) Faith A. Ennis (VSB # 100670) Evolution Divorce & Family Law, PLLC 1500 Forest Avenue, Suite 117 Richmond, Virginia 23229 (804) 793-8200 (main) (804) 793-8299 (fax) cmacturk@evolutiondivorce. com Counsel for Plaintiff
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 7th day of July, 2025 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 CITY OF RICHMOND WILLIAM LANCE THOMPSON, Plaintiff, v. CHRISTINE JOY SERRANO SEDON, Defendant. Case No: CL25-1107 ORDER OF PUBLICATION THE OBJECT of this suit is to obtain a divorce a vinculo matrimonii from the bond of matrimony from the Defendant on the ground of having lived separate and apart for one year, pursuant to§ 20-91{A)(9) of the Code of Virginia; and IT APPEARING TO THE COURT that the Defendant, Christine Joy Serrano Sedon, is a non-resident individual, other than a non-resident individual fiduciary who has appointed a statutory agent; it is, therefore ADJUDGED, ORDERED AND DECREED as follows: 1. That this Order of Publication shall be posted at the ftont door of the Courthouse; 2. That a copy of such Order of Publication shall be mailed to the Defendant at the post office address given in the affidavit required by Virginia Code§ 8.01-316; 3. That the clerk shall cause copies of the order to be so posted, mailed, and transmitted to the designated
VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE COUNTY OF HANOVER PATRICK SKINNER, Plaintiff v. COURTNEY SKINNER, Defendant. Case No.: CL23001931-00 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 30th day of June, 2025 at 9:00 AM and protect her interests.
A Copy, Teste: FRANK D. HARGROVE, JR., Clerk I ask for this: Dorothy M. Eure, Esquire Law Office of Dorothy M. Eure, P.C. VSB# 27724 8460 Mount Eagle Road Ashland, VA 23005 (804 798-9667
VIRGINIA: IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE COUNTY OF HANOVER RENISA OSHIBERU, Plaintiff v. OLANREWAJU OSHIBERU, Defendant. Case No.: CL25001509-00 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 1st day of July, 2025 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 CASSANDRA SPENCER, Plaintiff v. WILLIAM SPENCER, Defendant. Case No.: CL25001430-00 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 25th day of June, 2025 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
Charles City, Chesterfield, Dinwiddie, Fluvanna, Goochland, Hanover, Henrico, James City, Louisa, New Kent, Powhatan, Prince George, Spotsylvania, Stafford and
The City of Richmond announces the following project available for road construction services relating to: IFB No. 250011418: Jahnke Road Improvement (UPC No. 19035) from Blakemore Road to Forest Hill Avenue.
Bid Due Date: July 15, 2025, at 2:00 PM.
Pre-Bid Conference Call Meeting: June 10, 2025, at 2:00 PM.
For all information pertaining to this IFB, please logon to the Richmond website (www.RVA.GOV).
The City of Richmond announces the following project(s) available for services relating to: IFB No. 250012213: Forest Hill Avenue Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Improvements (UPC 121414)
For all information pertaining to this IFB, please logon to the Richmond website (www.rva.gov).
Bid Due Date: June 23, 2025/Time: 11:00 AM
Pre-Bid Meeting: June 2, 2025/Time: 11:00AM
Information or copies of the above solicitations are available at the City of Richmond website www.rva.gov or https://procurement.opengov.com/
portal/rva. The City of Richmond encourages all contractors to participate in the procurement process.
The City of Richmond announces the following project(s) available for services relating to: IFB No. 250012711: Hull St and E 29th St Pedestrian Hybrid Beacon (UPC 121415)
For all information pertaining to this IFB, please logon to the Richmond website (www.rva.gov).
Bid Due Date: June 30, 2025/Time: 11:00 AM
Pre-Bid Meeting: June 10, 2025/Time: 11:00AM
Information or copies of the above solicitations are available at the City of Richmond website www.rva.gov or https://procurement.opengov.com/ portal/rva. The City of Richmond encourages all contractors to participate in the procurement process.
by