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Williams: Heavy on country, light on Black artists: Richmond’s new venue needs DEI
Sly Stone modeled a brand of diversity, equity and inclusion that would serve well as a template for Richmond’s new musical venue, Allianz Amphitheater at Riverfront. Sly and the Family Stone as a band was an early model of integration — Black, white, male and female — when it arrived on the music scene in the late 1960s. One of its biggest hits, “Everyday People,” celebrated difference at a time of intense racial strife, urban unrest and political polarization ... But looking at the lineup of artists, I detected the harsh note of exclusion, and the sense that this $30 million venue was not built for folks like me.
No Chesterfield, no Richmond, no water authority
Kudos to Henrico and Hanover counties, whose boards met on Wednesday to discuss a path forward after recent meltdowns at the Richmond Water Treatment Plant left residents in parts of both counties — not to mention all of Richmond — without potable water for six days in January, and then again in late May. That two of RVA’s largest jurisdictions are on board with some kind of regional approach to address the root causes — city mismanagement of a century-old water treatment plant that’s in desperate need of modernization and repair — is significant. ... The problem? Richmond, which owns and controls the asset Henrico and Hanover want to oversee, wasn’t part of the meeting. And central Virginia’s largest jurisdiction, Chesterfield County, which has actual experience with a regional authority and more water capacity than either Henrico or Hanover, was MIA.
Organ transplant network chooses new board, drawing more criticism
The nation’s organ transplant network has elected a new board of directors in the federal government’s latest effort to reform a flawed system. For now, the Richmond-based United Network for Organ Sharing acts as the contractor that administers the network, which includes more than 300 transplant hospitals and organ procurement organizations that recover hearts, livers and kidneys from dead donors. The federal government has solicited bids from outsiders and has said it will divvy up UNOS’s work among other companies.
Roanoke rallygoers say no to Trump, kings
Roanoke joined the nationwide “No Kings” movement with two separate rallies Saturday protesting President Donald Trump’s policies. Roanoke Indivisible rallied in the morning at McCadden Park in northwest Roanoke, and a second protest organized by Roanoke resident Steve Davidson was held at Elmwood Park downtown in the afternoon. Speakers at both events urged attendees to take a stand against what they saw as overreach by Trump and his administration.
As Trump’s military parade takes to the street, so do thousands of ‘No Kings’ protesters in Hampton Roads
To Heidi Dragneff, the “No Kings” protests across Hampton Roads and the nation on Saturday weren’t really about politics. “It’s about honor,” the Navy veteran said as she was about to march through Norfolk. “It’s about what we still believe in that oath, in that flag, in that promise we made to each other and future generations.” For Angela Taylor, it was about patriotism. The 66-year-old cancer patient was one of many holding American flags at the protest in Chesapeake — she said she bought the last one in stock at a nearby Walgreens. “Because I live here and I’m going to be here,” Taylor said of why she was holding the flag. “And if anybody needs to leave, it’s him.”
Hundreds Protest At ‘No Kings’ Rallies Across Fairfax
Large crowds of protesters gathered at street corners and along roads across Fairfax County on Saturday to exercise their First Amendment right to peacefully demonstrate against the policies of President Donald Trump. The protests were part of the “No Kings” rallies nationwide organized by volunteer networks affiliated with Indivisible, WoFA and Third Act. The demonstrations were timed to coincide with a military parade commemorating the U.S. Army’s 250th anniversary that falls on President Donald Trump’s 79th birthday. It was also Flag Day.
One year later: A look at the Mountain Valley Pipeline
One year after the Mountain Valley Pipeline was completed, scars on the landscape along parts of its route through Southwest Virginia remain fresh. From the top of Poor Mountain in Roanoke County, a strip of bare earth can be seen cutting a swath up and down a wooded slope — marking the path of a buried pipeline that began transporting natural gas to East Coast markets on June 14, 2024. ... In its most recent construction status report, filed May 13 with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Mountain Valley said final restoration has been completed on the approximately 100 miles of pipeline that run through the New River and Roanoke valleys. But as the view from Poor Mountain attests, the restoration is far from final.
A tax break for cigarettes sparks a flood of imports
A loophole in U.S. trade law is turning into what could be a multibillion-dollar windfall for international cigarette firms with Mexican-made packs of longtime U.S. brands already flooding into the United States. An obscure 2015 tweak to an old law allows international tobacco firms to get a refund, called a drawback, of the $1.01 a pack federal excise tax, when they import cigarettes into the U.S. ... It's a big issue for Henrico County-based Altria, because the tobacco giant does not import cigarettes and does not sell cigarettes outside the United States.
Public media groups in central Virginia voice concern over potential funding cuts
Public media groups in central Virginia are facing new uncertainty as a bill that would significantly cut their federal funding in various fields moves through Congress. That includes WTJU 91.1 FM, the University of Virginia’s community radio station, which does a lot more than play songs from its Ivy Road space. General Manager Nathan Moore says the people who work for WTJU are dedicated to connecting the community; whether through music, art, festivals, summer camps, or even teaching high schoolers here how to DJ. “It’s a service that really matters to people,” Moore said, “it resonates, and we really do try to connect folks in our community to not just music but also resources that matter.”
Democrats squaring off in Virginia AG primary say one name a lot: Trump
Two Virginia Democrats are battling Tuesday to be their party’s nominee for attorney general. Yet, the name mentioned most in their campaigns is not that of their opponent, but rather a man who lives just over the Arlington Memorial Bridge: President Donald Trump. The barrage of changes Trump has wrought to American culture in the first few months of his second White House residency has ignited the campaigns of Virginia Democrats Jay Jones and Shannon Taylor as they appeal unrelentingly to the most devout swaths of their base ahead of down-ballot primary elections. The primary will also determine the party’s nominations this year for lieutenant governor and some contested seats in the House of Delegates.