CITY OF RICHMOND

Outgoing councilman Charles Samuels surveys part of his district on the Boulevard. (Credit Scott Elmquist, Style Weekly)

Grocery store planned for Church Hill ‘food desert’

A new grocery store is planned for Richmond’s Church Hill North neighborhood, an area in the East End that for years has been described as a “food desert” because of the lack of a full-service supermarket. Jim Scanlon, president of Jim’s Local Market, would operate the store in a planned development at the northern corner of Nine Mile Road and North 25th Street. Steven A. Markel, vice chairman of Henrico County-based specialty insurer Markel Corp., is personally financing the project to redevelop two city blocks at North 24th and North 25th streets and Nine Mile Road.

 Developers scale back plans for Westhampton on Grove

Developers of the former Westhampton Theater site in Richmond’s West End have reduced the height of the proposed project at Grove and Libbie avenues from four stories to three. Revised plans to redevelop the property into retail, office, restaurant and residential space were submitted to the city last week. The city, in response to original plans submitted in December, asked the developers in February to reduce the development to a maximum of three stories in keeping with the city’s master plan.

 Richmond Red Cross CEO tapped to head city’s anti-poverty department

Reggie Gordon, who for nine years has served as CEO of the Red Cross’ Greater Richmond Chapter, is stepping down to lead the city of Richmond’s anti-poverty department. “I know it’s a huge job,” Gordon said. “But I’m so impressed with the mayor’s vision and what’s been done already. I’m ready to step in and move forward.” Mayor Dwight C. Jones announced the appointment Wednesday. The anti-poverty push, which Jones announced five years ago, has been one of his office’s signature initiatives.

 CHESTERFIELD

 Schools to re-evaluate parity in renovations

It’s been two-and-a-half years since county voters overwhelmingly approved issuing $304 million in bonds to fund the revitalization of 10 aging schools. Construction has begun on just one of those projects: a renovation of Monacan High School that is expected to be completed this summer. Prompted by significant budget problems, leaders of the county’s school system now are re-evaluating the original objectives of their revitalization program and attempting to determine whether they have the funds to meet community expectations for the renovation of Providence and Manchester middle schools.

Empty Seats: As the region explores expanding bus lines, where is Chesterfield?

Quietly, Chesterfield is getting off the bus. On July 1, one of the county’s two remaining bus lines – GRTC Transit System’s Route 81 Express, which runs from the Lowe’s parking lot behind Chesterfield Towne Center to downtown Richmond – will make its last stop. Axed by a Board of Supervisors’ vote in March – the bus was carrying less than a dozen passengers daily – the change will leave the solitary Route 82 Express bus, which runs from the Commonwealth 20 movie theater off Hull Street Road to downtown. The express buses are slowly disappearing as Richmond and Henrico are experimenting with expanded bus rapid transit, and amid increasing calls from regional business leaders and mass transit advocates to link the three largest jurisdictions – Chesterfield, Richmond and Henrico – to make the metro area more accessible.

 HANOVER

 Hanover supervisors approve measure to allow chickens in residential neighborhoods

A dozen speakers at Wednesday’s meeting extolled the virtues of chickens. Suburbanites in Hanover County can now keep chickens in their backyards, after more than a dozen supporters extolled the birds’ composting, nutritional and pest-control benefits at a meeting Wednesday. The Hanover Board of Supervisors approved an ordinance that allows up to six hens in backyards in residential neighborhoods at its regular meeting.

 HENRICO

 Henrico bond referendum likely to exceed $400 million

Henrico voters could cast their ballots this November on a proposed bond referendum that totals more than $400 million, the Citizen has learned. In addition to the $272.6 million in school projects previously proposed by County Manager John Vithoulkas for the referendum, Vithoulkas will propose adding at least 12 more projects totaling at least $128 million.

 STATE/REGIONAL

 Virginia home sales rise in April

Residential home sales and the prices for those homes rose in April from the same month a year ago, according to an April 2016 Homes Sales Report released Thursday by the Virginia Association of Realtors. In Virginia, 9,945 houses sold in April, up 8.46 percent from the same month a year ago, the association reported. The median sale prices, with half the houses selling for more and half for less, was $265,000, up 1.9 percent from April 2015.

 ELECTIONS

 Charles Samuels: A thorn in Mayor Jones’ side prepares an exit too
Seated on the dais of City Council, Charles Samuels isn’t boisterous. Fellow member Reva Trammell goes as far as describing him as shy. But despite not having an outsize personality, the even-tempered lawyer has had an impact on council over the last eight years, two of them as council president. Samuels has been a thorn in Mayor Dwight Jones’ side by pushing to keep baseball on the Boulevard. He called for the school division’s funding requests to be fully met, despite the mayor’s warnings that city services could be cut.

 Virginia voter registration outpacing 2012 levels

Almost 35 percent more people have registered to vote in Virginia in the first three months of 2016 than in the first three months of 2012, according to election data released Tuesday by the Virginia Department of Elections. As of May 1, Virginia had 5,330,173 registered voters, a net gain of 108,582 since this year began. And for the first time, more Virginia voters are registering online with the state’s elections portal than through applications submitted through the state Department of Motor Vehicles.

 Ex-councilman Chuck Richardson, Richmond strip club owner, enters mayoral race

With his right to vote and run for office newly restored, former Richmond City Councilman Chuck Richardson says he’s racing to collect enough signatures to make the ballot to run for mayor. “To make a long story short,” Richardson said Thursday, “the confluence of the mayor’s race and the governor’s order opened the door of opportunity, and rather than sit on the sideline and complain, I decided to get off my rump and do something.” Strip club owner Mike Dickinson also said this week that he plans to enter the race. The two announcements bring the total number of people who have said they intend to run up to 18, though none has yet been certified to appear on the ballot.

 U.S. judge upholds Virginia voter ID law

A federal judge has upheld Virginia’s voter ID law challenged by the Democratic Party of Virginia and two voters alleging the Republican-controlled state legislature enacted it to curb the number of young and minority voters. “Mindful that the court’s mission is to judge not the wisdom of the Virginia voter ID law, but rather its constitutionality, this court cannot say that plaintiffs have met their burden of proof in showing by a preponderance of the evidence that the Virginia voter ID law … contravenes the Voting Rights Act, the First Amendment, the Fourteenth Amendment, the Fifteenth Amendment, or the Twenty-Sixth Amendment,” U.S. District Judge Henry E. Hudson wrote Thursday.