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Richmond Free Press © 2017 Paradigm Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.
VOL. 26 NO. 38
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA
www.richmondfreepress.com
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c e l e b rat ing o u r 2 5 t h A nniv e rsar y
September 21-23, 2017
‘Racists go home!’ Members of Tenn.-based neo-Confederate group met by hundreds of chanting counterprotesters at Saturday’s Monument Avenue rally By Ronald E. Carrington
A potentially volatile “Heritage Not Hate” rally led by a neo-Confederate group turned into a war of words Saturday as the small, but armed band found itself outnumbered by hundreds on Richmond’s Monument
Photo feature on A7 Avenue. The Tennessee-based group, CSA II: The New Confederate States of America, called the rally to show their support for the statue of Confederate Robert E. Lee as city leaders wrestle with whether the Confederate
Photos by Sandra Sellers/Richmond Free Press
Richmond police officers in riot gear separate counterprotesters from neo-Confederates on the west side of the Robert E. Lee monument. The small number of Confederate statue supporters was vastly outnumbered by hundreds of counterprotesters. At right, Taylor Medley offers an alternative viewpoint Saturday to neo-Confederate Tara Brandau of Florida, a co-organizer of Saturday’s rally on Monument Avenue to preserve the statue of Lee and other Confederates.
monuments on the tree-lined street should be removed or left up “with context.” “We are here for peaceful purposes so history will not repeat itself,” said Thomas Crompton, who organized the rally with his wife, Judy, and
School Board to fill 7th District seat Oct.16
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By Jeremy M. Lazarus
The Richmond School Board plans to fill the vacant 7th District seat at its meeting on Monday, Oct. 16. The decision came Monday night as the eight-member board also voted to urge Congress to allow the use of historic tax credits as a tool to finance school improvements and learned that 50 people have applied to be the next superintendent. On the board appointment front, the group set up an aggressive schedule. Anyone interested in the 7th District seat has until noon Friday, Sept. 29, to submit a letter of interest and a résumé. The School Board plans to interview candidates on Monday, Oct. 2, and then hold a public hearing to receive comments on the candidates during its meeting. The good news for the appointee: He or she will be able to serve until the general election in November 2018, when voters will elect a replacement for Nadine Marsh-Carter, who resigned following the death of her husband in July. Having passed the deadline for candidates to get on the ballot in the upcoming Nov. 7 election, the board voted to put off the election for a year, rather than holding it earlier. The board’s vote on the historic tax credits has been sought from advocates like Paul Goldman, who has led the charge to put a school modernization referendum on the November ballot. It follows Richmond City Council’s vote on a similar resolution urging passage of legislation introduced by U.S. Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner and Rep. A. Donald McEachin to correct a glitch in the federal tax law that bars the use of tax credits to Please turn to A4
Walking my baby back home Harmony Otey, 5, is met by her grandfather, Jimmy Squire, or “PaPa” as she calls him, Wednesday when the last bell rang at Carver Elementary School in Richmond’s Carver neighborhood. The youngster was excited about spending the evening with PaPa.
Counterprotesters stand united for racial justice By Leah Hobbs
Bonnie Jo Mount/The Washington Post/Associated Press pool
Republican gubernatorial candidate Ed Gillespie makes a point while Democratic Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam listens during Tuesday night’s gubernatorial debate in Northern Virginia.
Northam, Gillespie square off in Northern Virginia debate Free Press wire report
MCLEAN The two major party candidates in Virginia’s closely watched race for governor argued in mostly cordial tones Tuesday over taxes, President Trump and what Virginia should do with its numerous monuments to the Confederacy. Republican Ed Gillespie said at the candidate debate, held in voter-rich Northern Virginia and televised across the state, that he’s the only candidate with a sense of urgency and the right policies to improve a floundering economy. Virginia’s economic growth has sputtered with a slowdown in federal spending, especially in defense. “We used to always lead, and now we are lagging,” Mr. Gillespie said, peppering his remarks throughout the hourlong debate with statistics about Virginia’s slow economic growth. He has made cutting the state income tax rate
a key campaign platform, which he said would spur more economic growth. Democratic Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam presented a far different picture of the economy, saying it had made strong progress under current Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a Democrat who is barred from seeking a consecutive term. Lt. Gov. Northam said he would take Virginia to the “next level,” with a focus on improving the economy in rural areas. He also chided Mr. Gillespie for painting a bleak picture of the state, saying that’s counterproductive to the state’s efforts to lure new businesses like Amazon’s proposed second headquarters. “Amazon doesn’t want to hear people like you saying — especially if you want to be the next governor — that we’re doing poorly in Virginia,” Lt. Gov. Northam said. Please turn to A4
Today’s racial inequities are rooted in the history of the Confederacy, and Richmonders must take ownership of that history, Adria Scharf, director of the Richmond Peace Education Center, told several hundred counterprotesters gathered Saturday at the Maggie L. Walker statue on Broad Street in Downtown. “We have to name that truthfully, apologize and make amends today,” she told the crowd. “Today we stand united in the former capital of the Confederacy and there’s no going back.” The gathering, “Richmond Stands United for Racial Justice,” was organized by the Richmond Peace Education Center to counterbalance the “Heritage Not Hate” rally led by CSA II: The New Confederate States of America in support of keeping the statues of Confederates on Monument Avenue. Ms. Scharf said the naPlease turn to A4
GOP takes another swipe at Obamacare Free Press staff, wire reports
Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press
WASHINGTON Jay Stout considers himself lucky that he was on the health insurance plan that his mother purchased through the Affordable Care Act’s marketplace. Without that plan, the 20-year-old community college student — and his family — never could have afforded the multiple
surgeries and rehabilitation services he needed after his left arm was nearly severed in a head-on collision. “The insurance is irreplaceable. Losing it would be devastating,” he said. But once again, he and millions of other families and individuals who have health insurance under the Affordable Care Act are facing another Republican charge to
repeal the law known as Obamacare. While the majority of Americans are covered through employer-provided insurance, Obamacare serves people who have no insurance either because their job does not come with benefits or they are unemployed. The program also forces upgrades in all Please turn to A4