September 22 24, 2016 issue

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Meet new president of Baptist Ministers’ Conference B1

Colorful casts top Emmy Awards

Richmond Free Press © 2016 Paradigm Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.

VOL. 25 NO. 39

RICHMOND, VIRGINIA

www.richmondfreepress.com

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SEPTEMBER 22-24, 2016

Trouble doubles Petersburg’s creditors lining up, suing to get paid By Jeremy M. Lazarus

Dironna Moore Belton is counting on a flood of money pouring into Petersburg’s treasury in coming days from residents paying their first quarter property tax bills. If the $4 million or so the interim city manager is anticipating comes in, Ms. Belton would have more than enough to pay the next principal and interest payments due on Petersburg city bonds. And that payment, estimated at $1.53 million in city financial documents, would prevent state Secretary of Finance Richard D. “Ric” Brown from seizing state money allocated to Petersburg for other purposes and using it to prevent default on those bonds. That’s one of the challenges that Ms. Ms. Belton Belton is coping with in seeking to keep the Petersburg government afloat amid an ongoing financial crisis for the city of 33,000 people. Despite budget cuts and tax increases the Petersburg City Council approved, the city remains short of cash to pay its workers and bills. It also remains unable to gain a short-term loan from lenders, who remain skeptical the debt would be repaid. Trying to keep a handle on the problem, Ms. Belton is receiving daily reports on the city’s cash situation and the bills that are due. She also has centralized approval of all payments in her office, ending the practice in place when she arrived last March of having at least 30 people able to spend city money. But that has not stopped the challenges from coming. The latest challenge hit Wednesday, when the regional body Please turn to A4

State seeks improvement in RPS special ed By Lauren Northington

Courtesy of Alan Karchmer

The National Museum of African American History and Culture, located on the National Mall near the Washington Monument, will display more than 33,000 artifacts highlighting the culture and history of black people in America. Below, deacon’s chairs from Sixth Mount Zion Baptist Church in Jackson Ward are featured in a museum display on African-American ministers. The Richmond church was founded in 1867 by the Rev. John Jasper.

New D.C. museum opens with links to local people, history By Lauren Northington

When the National Museum of African American History and Culture opens this weekend with fanfare, a dedication ceremony Saturday with President Obama and other dignitaries and an anticipated crowd of thousands, a 130-year-old bell shipped to the museum from Williamsburg will ring — and acknowledge history. The bell is among several historic items — and people — from the Greater Richmond area linked to the opening celebration of the $300 million museum that is part of the Smithsonian Institution. Designed by architect David Adjaye of Freelon Adjaye Bond/ SmithGroup, the new 400,000square-foot building is at ConstituCourtesy of Baltimore Tuskegee Alumni Club Richmond resident and tion Avenue and 14th Street NW veterinarian Dr. Danielle Spencer- on the Washington Mall, near the David, who starred as the little Washington Monument. sister “Dee” on the 1970s The building, with its contempositcom “What’s Happening!!,” is rary design, will be filled with more included in a museum exhibit. than 33,000 cultural and historical artifacts devoted “exclusively to the documentation of African-American life, history and culture” spanning more than 400 years, according to the Smithsonian website.

The Virginia Department of Education is not satisfied with the state of special education in Richmond Public Schools, according to a report delivered Monday night to the Richmond School Board — the first meeting of the academic year. Based on data collected by the state agency from the 20132014, 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 academic years, the department found that RPS “needs assistance” with improving educational quality for students with learning disabilities. The department concluded that RPS’ programs for special needs students rated only 73 on a scale of 100 in providing its most detailed analysis of such programs. The department determined the rating after analyzing 100 randomly selected student records, conducting 94 classroom walkthroughs in 10 different Richmond schools and holding interviews with groups of students, teachers and administrators. Richmond schools Superintendent Dana T. Bedden requested the state review two years ago; however, he was not at the meeting. According to his schedule, Dr. Bedden was in Washington to participate in a government seminar on the challenges of educating girls of color, particularly those who suffer trauma. Richmond has about 4,000 students in special education Photo by Ayasha Sledge programs, which is nearly one in six students in the school system. Nia Saunders, 8, a student at Linwood Holton According to the state re- Elementary School, snaps a photo at the port, RPS received low scores Sept. 15 opening reception of the inaugural for moving too slowly to AFRIKANA Independent Film Festival. The identify students with learn- three-day event at venues across the city ing disabilities, for having an showcased dozens of films by Africanoutsized proportion of African- American filmmakers and featured inspiring

A star is born

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talks by directors, film score producers and others about their art.

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Courtesy of Benjamin Ross

Va. Supreme Court rejects contempt charge for governor By Jeremy M. Lazarus

Gov. Terry McAuliffe is now free to keep restoring the voting rights of felons who have served their time — a relief to more than 18,000 people whose rights he has restored since Aug. 22. The Virginia Supreme Court refused to wade further into this increasingly partisan battle and threw out another Republican attempt to restrict the governor’s constitutional authority to restore voting rights. On Sept. 15, the court dismissed with little comment a request from GOP leaders in the General Assembly to hold Gov. McAuliffe in contempt for shifting from a blanket restoration of rights to a fast-paced, individual restoration of the right of felons to vote. Restoring a person’s rights also allows him or her to run for office, serve on juries and become a notary public. Earlier in the summer, the state’s highest court blocked the governor from restoring the rights of more than 200,000 felons en masse after GOP House Speaker William J. Howell of Fredericksburg and GOP Senate Majority Leader Thomas K. Norment of James City County, challenged his authority to do what no other governor had ever done. For Gov. McAuliffe, the court’s terse decision to throw out the follow-up contempt request represents a win in a bitter fight that could lead to an attempt to change the state Constitution to strip future governors of the authority to restore felons’ rights — an authority in place for 186 years. “I am pleased that the Supreme Court has dismissed the case Republicans filed in their latest attempt to prevent individuals who have served their time having

a full voice in our society,” Gov. McAuliffe stated after learning of the court’s decision. “It is my hope,” he continued, “that the court’s validation of the process we are using will convince Republicans to drop their divisive efforts to prevent Virginians from regaining their voting rights and focus their energy and resources on making Virginia a better place to live for the people who elected all of us to lead.” Virginia Attorney General Mark R. Herring, who represented the governor before the court, added that “this contempt motion was completely baseless, and I’m glad that the Supreme Court dispatched it so quickly. “Gov. McAuliffe is doing the right thing in giving these Virginians back their voice and their vote and I hope the legislature will join the effort,” he added. Republican leaders indicated they are finished trying to restrain Gov. McAuliffe through the courts, but would take up legislation at the next General Assembly session in January to push for restraining the governor’s authority. “We are disappointed, but respect the Supreme Court’s order,” Speaker Howell stated. “Throughout this process, our goal was to hold the governor accountable to the Constitution and the rule of law. The governor stretched the bounds of the Virginia Constitution and sought to expand executive power in a manner we viewed as inappropriate and reckless. “The General Assembly must now review the Constitution’s provision governing felon voting,” Howell added. “The current provisions of the constitution are vague, vulnerable to executive overreach. Several Please turn to A4


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