Beyoncé invites special guests to awards show B2
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Richmond Free Press © 2016 Paradigm Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.
VOL. 25 NO. 36
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA
www.richmondfreepress.com
Republican leaders seek to hold Va. governor in contempt for restoring voting rights of 13,000 former felons last week
SEPTEMBER 1-3, 2016
Morrissey ahead in polls, but battles to keep law license By Jeremy M. Lazarus
they continue to draw through the mud with their political lawsuits and ugly attacks.” He said after the Virginia Supreme Court’s ruling, “my team fully complied with the court’s order and established a process that is fully consistent with the ruling as well as the precedent of past governors.” Under the new approach, the administration first is checking records and then issuing individual restoration orders to felons who have completed their sentences or any parole or probation. When someone’s rights are restored, he or she can again have the right to vote, run for office, serve on a jury and act as a notary public. In a vigorous response, Gov. McAuliffe stated, “We will oppose this latest partisan action vigorously and
Attorney Joseph D. “Joe” Morrissey appears to be riding high in his quest to become Richmond’s next mayor. But he also continues to be dogged by the sex scandal that landed him in jail in 2014 and a fresh effort to strip him of his law license. Mr. Morrissey, who was once the city’s chief prosecutor and now is a defense attorney, has emerged as the frontrunner in the eight-way race to replace Mayor Dwight C. Jones, the first public poll of the race indicates. An outsider to City Hall, Mr. Morrissey, 58, turns out to have the most support citywide. He is leading his rivals in five of the nine Richmond City Council districts — the
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GOP at it again Speaker Howell
Sen. Norment
By Jeremy M. Lazarus
Gov. Terry McAuliffe once again is under attack from Republican leaders in the General Assembly who are determined to halt his efforts to restore the voting and political rights of hundreds of thousands of felons who have served their time. In a new filing Wednesday, GOP leaders asked the Virginia Supreme Court to hold the Democratic governor in contempt for restoring the political rights of 13,000 felons last week and for trying to do so in coming months for more than 200,000 others who have completed their sentences. No date has been set for a hearing, but a win for the GOP could strip those felons of their ability to participate in the Nov. 8 elections for president, Congress and local offices. According to House Speaker William J. Howell, R-Fredericksburg, and Senate Majority Leader Thomas K. Norment, R-James City County, the governor’s fresh attempt to restore voting rights demonstrates he is failing to abide by the high court’s July 22 ruling. In that 4-3 decision, the court found the governor violated the Virginia Constitution when he began issuing blanket orders in the spring that automatically restored the political rights of 206,000 felons. The court held that rights restoration should be done on a case-by-case basis as the state’s chief executive has long been authorized to do.
“The practical effect of Gov. McAuliffe’s Aug. 22 decision to issue individual restoration orders effectively suspends Virginia’s general constitutional prohibition against felon voting,” according to the GOP filing. The filing has infuriated Gov. McAuliffe, who believes that he and his administration are on sound legal ground in his latest effort to restore rights. The new attack shows that the “Republicans’ sole motivation is to deny Virginians the right to vote,” Gov. McAuliffe stated. He said the GOP leadership is seeking to use “the judiciary to intimidate and disenfranchise people who are living in our communities and paying taxes. (The GOP) is more concerned with the impact new voters will have on Donald Trump’s (presidential) campaign than they are with the dignity of the people whom
Gov. McAuliffe
North Side sees signs of growth, renewal By Jeremy M. Lazarus
A new wave of investment is beginning to pour into Richmond’s North Side. During the next two years, private and nonprofit developers are gearing up to invest more than $50 million in new houses and apartments, mostly along 1st and 2nd avenues in Highland Park. Meanwhile, new businesses are beginning to eye the Brookland
Park Boulevard corridor in nearby Barton Heights for potential space — harbingers of growth and prosperity in Ms. Robertson an area once notorious for decay and crime. “This is going to be huge for this area,” said Councilwoman Ellen F.
Robertson, 6th District, who has fought to secure city support and funding for the developments. She said that having so many projects “coming together at the same time will have a positive ripple effect.” The first development is already underway — creation of 32 town homes in the long awaited Matthews Heights subdivision at the southern gateway into Highland Park at Matthews Street and 1st
Woodland, Evergreen cemeteries for sale By Jeremy M. Lazarus Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press
Last splash before school Alanna Runger enjoys an end-of-summer swim Wednesday in the Pony Pasture Rapids on South Side with her playful pug, Ye Ye, and Joy, the friendly Boston terrier. Her mother and sister, not pictured, were also along for the fun. The Labor Day holiday weekend will see cooler temperatures in the 70s on Saturday and Sunday with rain possible. Showers are expected to move out by Monday, with highs in the mid-80s. Area schools will open Tuesday to a forecast of sunny skies, with temperatures in the high 80s.
A Richmond foundation is pursuing the purchase of two historic, but privately held African-American cemeteries, the Free Press has learned. Sources have told the Free Press that the Enrichmond Foundation is in talks to buy Woodland and Evergreen cemeteries that have for decades been owned and operated by corporate entities of Isaiah Entzminger. Representatives of the Entzminger family and the foundation have declined comment, and it is still uncertain when an agreement will be reached because of complicated legal issues. Please turn to A4
Photo by Marvin Harris
Volunteers have spruced up the burial site of banking pioneer Maggie L. Walker, whose headstone sits to the left of the large cross in Evergreen Cemetery. The three headstones, right, mark the graves of her husband, Armistead Walker Jr., and their two sons.
Avenue. Heavy equipment is carving out new streets and alleys to make way for the $8 million development that the Southside Community Development and Housing Corp. is undertaking. The new home development has been envisioned since the city tore down dilapidated apartments on the hilltop site about 20 years ago. Just a few blocks north, plans are afoot to add a single-family home component to the Highland Grove community on Dove Street and 1st Avenue that opened in 2013. More than $25 million was invested in the first phase that created 128 apartment homes to replace bedraggled public housing and blighted apartments. But the follow-up phases to create 120 single-family homes in the development have stalled, in large part because of a conflict over whether to replace OverbySheppard Elementary School and where to locate it. Instead of a new school building, Overby-Sheppard will be getting a more than $4 million overhaul from funding secured by Ms. Robertson. At this point, Ms. Robertson said the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority has hired a consultant to get the single-family home portion of Highland Grove back on track, using the site of a former National Guard Armory the city acquired and tore down. It was to be the site of the school that the School Board nixed. She said that planning for the potential $26 million subdivision
Rep. Scott’s Labor Day cookout
A 40-year tradition of serving hot dogs, politics By Lauren Northington
How often can you walk into a cookout, grab a hot dog and chat with U.S. senators, several Virginia mayors and perhaps the governor, without paying thousands? Thanks to Congressman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott, that’s what happens each year on Labor Day. On Monday, Sept. 5, Rep. Scott will be hosting his 40th Annual Labor Day Celebration from 3 to 6 p.m. in the backyard of his family home overlooking Hampton Roads at 914 Shore Drive in Newport News.
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Bulldogs win opener
More than 1,000 guests are expected, including Gov. Terry McAuliffe, Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam, and other elected officials, including many candidates running for office in November. Rep. Scott, whose 3rd Congressional District included Richmond until earlier this year when redistricting moved the city to the 4th District, is excited about continuing the tradition. “I would guess that if you took a poll, one-third of the people in Newport News would name the Labor Day cookout as a ‘Happening,’ ” Rep. Scott said.
The event requires 50 to 60 onsite volunteer coordinators, and even more volunteers to plan and prepare. The cookout, which costs approximately $12,000 to put on and is paid for by his campaign fund, had humble beginnings. It was 1977, he recalled, and his first run for the Virginia General Assembly. “We had just completed the primary election Please turn to A4
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