Opposition to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and broader federal immigration enforcement is taking shape across Central Virginia, with a series of protests and civic actions scheduled this week and into the spring. Organizers and advocacy...
Inmates in Virginia correctional centers have been approved to receive COVID vaccines, but a disorganized rollout has led to confusion and a lack of information about when vaccines will actually be coming. Jillian Floyd hasn’t seen her son in a year. She is one of many Virginia prisoners experiencing the COVID-19 pandemic in Virginia’s...
The General Assembly has made progress on police reform in Virginia, but for advocates and progressive legislators, passing reform of qualified immunity is an essential piece of the puzzle. Virginia has made headlines in recent months for criminal justice reform measures but advocates say more needs to be done. They are disappointed that...
Governor Northam has voiced his support for abolishing the death penalty in Virginia, and now both houses of the General Assembly have voted in favor of abolishing it as well. After over 400 years of conducting more executions than any other state, Virginia may become the first Southern state to abolish the death penalty. The Virginia Senate and...
David Smith remembers dancing to music in his head and having conversations with television shows during 16 months in solitary confinement at Norfolk City Jail. “Your mind plays tricks on you,” Smith said. “There was a slow disconnect with reality. I didn’t recognize the pain that was happening in me, nor did I have the emotional strength...
Ongoing concerns over voter suppression, intimidation, and discrimination at the polls led Del. Cia Price to introduce a bill modeled on the Federal Voting Rights Act of 1965. This week, it was passed in the House of Delegates. On the first day of Black History Month, legislators advanced a bill to help ensure voter protection for Virginia...
Dismantling the Confederacy's legacy as one of the most ubiquitous brands in American history is not easy. But, as Rachel Scott Everett writes, progress is finally being made. On July 1, 2020, I stood with hundreds of masked observers to witness history in my hometown of Richmond, Virginia: the official removal of the first Confederate statue in...
Both houses of the General Assembly have advanced bills intended to speed the spread of COVID-19 vaccines by allowing more health care providers to deliver them. The Virginia House and Senate have unanimously advanced separate bills to facilitate administration of the COVID-19 vaccine. House Bill 2333, introduced by Del. Lamont Bagby,...
With Pfizer and Moderna vaccines reaching increasing numbers of Virginians, the commonwealth is eager to be through the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it's become clear in recent weeks that we still have a long road ahead. As Virginia grapples with record numbers of COVID-19 cases, overwhelmed hospitals and medical staff, and lagging...
The twelfth and final installment in a monthly series in which a hometown Richmonder who has spent over a decade abroad explores the many different neighborhoods accessible by GRTC bus lines to discover the ways transit connects us all. Scott’s Addition: When out-of-towners tell you they had a great time in Richmond recently, they almost always...
