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Pro-Palestine protesters block traffic, march to Virginia State Capitol
Several dozen pro-Palestine protesters on Tuesday afternoon marched in the rain through downtown Richmond, blocking traffic as they made their way down Ninth Street to the Virginia State Capitol building. A Virginia Capitol Police officer told the Richmond Times-Dispatch that the western grounds of the Capitol were shut down as protesters staged a demonstration on the sidewalk along West Broad Street. At least two dozen officers formed a line between the group and the building.
VPAP Visual New Voter Registrations: April 2024
New registrations are off to a slow start in the first four months of 2024. Virginia has had 84,411 new registrations so far this year, the lowest number of the past five presidential election years for January through April.
Richmond’s first Black-owned hospital now on list of endangered historic sites
The aged red brick and boarded up windows of Richmond Community Hospital have been at the center of debate in North Side, where residents have been rallying to save the historic building. A freshly achieved historic designation could aid in the preservation of that historic building. The hospital, now closed since the 1980s and covered in Ivy, was once the first Black-owned hospital in the city. It was the only place where Black physicians could practice, and Black patients could receive medical care.
Appalachian Power makes another move toward renewable energy
Appalachian Power Co. is in the market for three wind, solar and battery energy systems as it takes another step toward establishing an all-renewable power portfolio. The company’s request for proposals from energy companies is the latest in a series of planned acquisitions to comply with the Clean Economy Act, a state law that requires Appalachian to deliver totally carbon-free power to its Virginia customers by 2050.
10 years later: Former Virginia Intermont College sits unused and in disrepair
On May 20, 2014, Virginia Intermont College shut its doors due to financial issues and the loss of its accreditation. The college opened in 1884 and became co-educational in 1972. College alumni Ryan Gray was almost two years into his time as an admissions counselor after graduating in 2012. He said the closure didn’t feel real until the final moments. “It was just surreal,” said Gray. “I didn’t want to believe it. But when it did happen that very last day in May, standing in line to get our last checks, that’s when I knew it was real.”
Former Sen. Amanda Chase in court for assault charge
Former state Sen. Amanda Chase, R-Chesterfield, was in court Monday for an assault and battery charge after an altercation earlier this year at a local GOP event. Chesterfield Republicans met in March to select new committee leaders, but a confrontation involving Chase became the main attraction. Chase was charged with assault and battery after a confrontation with Adaire Lazaro outside of the meeting.
‘Political theater’ is how state senator classifies Petersburg’s claim of casino-bullying
Sen. Lashresce Aird is firing back at the city’s claims it was coerced by her or her staff into picking Bally’s Corporation as Petersburg’s casino vendor, calling it “merely political theater” and highlighting that Petersburg’s council will not do anything “in the best interest of the people they represent.” ... “These attempts to blame the General Assembly and portray themselves as coerced into anything by me or otherwise is merely political theater and a distraction from this council’s true intentions to move forward with no process, no public engagement, and proceed in the least transparent way imaginable,” Aird said in a statement sent to The Progress-Index.
Nonemergency line restored at Charlottesville-UVa-Albemarle Emergency Communications Center
For roughly three days, the regional call center that handles 911 calls for the city of Charlottesville, Albemarle County and the University of Virginia was unable to process nonemergency or administrative calls. The Charlottesville-UVa-Albemarle County Emergency Communications Center, or ECC, reported on Saturday that its nonemergency line had gone down and urged those looking to dial in to call an alternative number.
Shapiro: How the pro-Palestinian movement mirrors ‘Stop the Steal’
The free exchange and balance of ideas at universities is essential to an enriched collegiate experience. Unfortunately, what we’ve witnessed at Virginia Commonwealth University and other colleges across the country the last few weeks is a targeted campaign to silence and intimidate Jewish people and our singular nation-state. The TikTok-fueled propaganda depicted under the benign, euphemistic banner of a “Free Palestine Movement” is riddled with hypocrisy. Student protestors are disrupting and eliminating dialogue, shouting over speakers who dissent.
Brown v. Board promised better schools for all, but Richmond falls short
Keri Treadway was setting up her classroom library a few days before students from William Fox Elementary School began attending class at Clark Springs Elementary School. It was about three months after a three-alarm fire destroyed the 111-year-old Fox building in 2022. Treadway is a reading interventionist for Fox students, and due to space limitations usually works in a small room located within a classroom — a quirk of the Clark Springs design. There’s no door separating the space from the main classroom, so Treadway fashioned a curtain to divide the space.