CITY OF RICHMOND
Richmond School Board votes to become a part of regional computer science high school
Levar Stoney (center), a former aide to Gov. Terry McAuliffe, and other candidates answer questions at the forum. (Daniel Sangjib Min/Times-Dispatch)
The Richmond School Board voted unanimously Monday to back a new regional high school that will allow students to meet their core requirements while getting an education focused on computer science. The vote commits the city to CodeRVA, as it is known, by agreeing to help create a School Board that will oversee the creation and the operation of the regional school. “This starts the process,” said Superintendent Dana T. Bedden.
Orleans Street in Richmond’s East End is a short road that runs through a small industrial strip. It connects the rising, upscale condominiums and restaurants of Rocketts Landing with the lower-income townhouses and bungalows of Fulton and Fulton Hill. It’s also scheduled to be the eastern terminus of the $49 million bus rapid transit project, known as BRT, which will be called the Pulse. Within 18 months it is set to whisk passengers from Fulton through downtown to Willow Lawn and back for jobs, shopping and entertainment. The Orleans station is a focal point for how Richmond could leverage the new federal bus project into a more comprehensive public transit system than what exists anywhere in the region and certainly in the East End.
The B is for “bike.” But it’s also a marker for simplicity, convenience and speed. “It’s bold, it’s modern, and it’s impossible to miss,” said Aaron Dotson, principal and creative director at Elevation, the Richmond marketing firm that developed the branding concept and logo for the city’s bike-share system. “We encourage everyone in the Richmond region to be fast, be smart and be healthy. Take the B for a spin.” Trimmed in yellow and black, with a honeycomb motif, the bike unveiled Wednesday at a news conference by Dotson, Mayor Dwight C. Jones and Jakob Helmboldt, the city’s pedestrian, bicycle and trails coordinator, will be among 220 installed at up to 22 docking stations, called hives, starting this fall.
CHESTERFIELD
Joseph P. Casey, Chesterfield County’s incoming county administrator, will be sworn in on June 17, two weeks before his first day on the new job, a county spokesman said Tuesday. Steven C. McCallum, chief judge of Virginia’s 12th Judicial Circuit, will administer the oath at 4 p.m. on the steps of the Historic Courthouse on Iron Bridge Road, the same place were Casey was formally introduced to county employees last month.Casey, 52, is currently a deputy county manager in Henrico County. He will succeed James J.L. “Jay” Stegmaier, 62, who is retiring June 30 after a 37-year career in Chesterfield.
Of all the dignitaries who braved an unseasonably hot, humid afternoon to attend the May 26 press conference at which Joseph Casey was introduced as Chesterfield’s new county administrator, two were of particular importance to Casey. After they learned that the Chesterfield Board of Supervisors had selected Casey to replace the retiring Jay Stegmaier, Henrico County Manager John Vithoulkas and Hanover County Administrator Cecil R. “Rhu” Harris talked it over and decided to attend Casey’s official welcome ceremony as a show of support. Casey mentioned both men by name in his remarks, calling them his mentors and noting the roles they had played in helping advance his career to this point.
Responding to its vastly growing population and changing demographics, the time has come for Chesterfield County to reassess its plan for one of its most valuable assets: its park system. A lot has changed since the Department of Parks and Recreation last updated its master plan 14 years ago. Beginning next week, the department will hold a series of community meetings, seeking input from county residents to help create a new framework for a high-quality park system. “The plan outlines what we have to do in our parks and at facilities and what programs and services we offer. It analyzes current trends, levels of service needs, demographics of the county, projects and when we need to develop new plans or facilities,” said Brian Geouge, county planning manager.
GOOCHLAND
It would seem that 2016 is shaping up to be a good year for solar energy in Goochland. Just a few months after Goochland High School installed a new photovoltaic system that converts sunlight to electric power, the Goochland County Board of Supervisors has approved a conditional use permit (CUP) that will allow a photovoltaic facility — otherwise known as a “solar farm” — to be located on Martin Road near the intersection with Shannon Hill Road. The permit, which was awarded to Charlottesville-based Martin Solar Center, LLC, clears the way for the use of approximately 35 acres of the 114-acre property, which is zoned Agricultural General and designated as a Rural Enhancement Area in the county’s Comprehensive Plan.
HANOVER
After House Bill 912—which allows Internet providers access to state roads and highways—was signed into law late last month, Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe released another piece of Internet-related information; the launch of the statewide ‘R U Online’ survey. The survey—which has been made available for everyone across the Commonwealth—looks to create a more comprehensive broadband map, which details who and where people are struggling to receive high-speed Internet service. “The survey responses give people a chance to say, ‘I’ve got coverage, I’m happy with it, no problem,” and there’s another category that says ‘yes, but I would like improved services or other options,” the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Secretary of Technology Karen Jackson said.
NATIONAL
Everything about gentrification is controversial — even its definition. One recent study by sociologist Michael Barton compared how the New York Times and researchers used the term to talk about city neighborhoods; he found very little agreement about where change was happening. That’s not the only thing we can’t agree on. Gentrification is painted alternately as a destroyer of neighborhoods or a savior of cities. These competing views are driven in part by misconceptions about what the word means and what it entails. Here are some of the most common.
Philadelphia is poised to become the first large American city to pass a soda tax. If the measure passes a final vote next week, as it is expected to do, it will impose a tax of 1.5 cents for every ounce that includes sugar or artificial sweeteners — about 30 cents for a 20-ounce drink or $2.16 for a 12-pack. On Wednesday night, it was passed on a voice vote by the City Council’s “committee of the whole,” which includes the entire council. Instead of selling it as a nanny state measure meant to make the city healthier, he presented it as a big untapped source of revenue that could be used to pay for popular initiatives, including expanded prekindergarten, and renovations of city libraries and recreation centers.
ELECTIONS
Levar Stoney’s mayoral campaign brought in more than $275,000 in contributions since its launch in late April, according to a source with knowledge of Stoney’s first campaign finance report. The figure is $100,000 more than any prior candidate for mayor in Richmond has raised in one campaign finance reporting period. And it approximately matches former Gov. L. Douglas Wilder’s total spending during his 2004 campaign for mayor as tallied by the Virginia Public Access Project, which tracks money in politics. Stoney’s campaign declined to comment on the figures.
Levar Stoney closed out Monday with a strong fundraising lead over his opponents in the Richmond mayoral race, reporting a haul of over $303,000 in the first campaign finance reporting period since he announced his bid. Trailing him in the crowded field was former Venture Richmond director Jack Berry, who reported raising just under $160,000. As of press time, fundraising reports, which were compiled by the Virginia Public Access Project.
Levar Stoney promised he wouldn’t end up on the front page of a newspaper for “something scandalous.” Jack Berry said it wouldn’t matter who someone knew or “what church they go to” when it came to hiring at City Hall. And Chad Ingold, a Richmond Public Schools teacher, noted he’s licensed by the state to teach ethics, and said he would apply what he knows to his new job. Richmond’s second mayoral forum was ostensibly about issues facing the city’s North Side, but it ended with the candidates piling thinly veiled criticism on Mayor Dwight C. Jones in response to the final question: What would they do to “restore community trust to the office?”
Community strategist Lillie A. Estes said Friday that she’s ending her bid to be Richmond’s next mayor. Her announcement brings the field, which peaked at 18 declared candidates last month, down to 16 ahead of Tuesday’s deadline to submit the 500 signatures required to get on the ballot. The filing requirement is expected to pare down the field further — though by how many candidates is unclear. At Tuesday’s forum in North Side, a number of candidates were still collecting signatures. On Thursday, Chad Ingold, a Richmond Public Schools teacher, put out a request on his Facebook page for volunteers to assist him over the weekend, saying he needed “lots of help.”
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s remarks about the “Mexican” judge presiding over a fraud case against him have drawn condemnation from many Republicans. Corey A. Stewart is not among them. Stewart, the chairman of Trump’s Virginia campaign and a GOP contender for Virginia governor in 2017, turned to Facebook to offer Trump his full-throated support. When Trump travels to Richmond on Friday for an evening rally at the Richmond Coliseum, Stewart will welcome him to the commonwealth. Stewart has warned that if there are any illegal immigrants protesting at the Richmond event, “we’re going to kick their asses out of the country.”
Virginians in parts of the Richmond area, Hampton Roads and the western part of the state will head to the polls Tuesday to choose nominees to run for Congress in November. In a redrawn 4th District that now includes the cities of Richmond and Petersburg — and now favors Democrats — there is primary competition Tuesday for the Democrat and Republican nominations in what has become an open seat. Five-term Henrico County Sheriff Mike Wade is squaring off against Chesterfield County resident Jackee Gonzalez for the GOP nomination.