Dec. 4 Newsletter: Police steer clear of immigration enforcement
Weather: Still cold. High of 46.
On this date in 1982, about 400 University of Virginia students blocked traffic in Charlottesville to protest the school's decision to end Easters, an annual series of parties that became nationally famous.
Today's newsletter sponsored by VCU. Virginia Commonwealth University is a powerhouse of innovation and creative problem solving. We attack challenges as opportunities to do what others can’t or won’t. VCU is truly unlike any university you’ve ever seen.
Richmond Electoral Board will meet this morning with top election official’s job in limbo
After a scathing report about Richmond Registrar Keith Balmer, the Richmond Electoral Board will meet this morning to discuss his fate.
- “I had the equivalent of a teenager with a credit card,” Electoral Board Chair Starlet Stevens said in an interview with The Richmonder last week after the inspector general’s report came out.
While Balmer is a city employee subject to city policies, he is hired (and fired) by an unelected board whose members are appointed by local judges.
Because state law gives local political parties the power to nominate potential board members, it’s often partisan activists picked to oversee the ostensibly nonpartisan work of running fair and free elections.
Read more on the system, and what will happen this morning, here.
At final yearly meeting, School Board says the city is falling short in maintaining grounds
The Richmond School Board says the city isn’t doing a good enough job mowing school properties and wants to revisit a 2011 agreement that put the Department of Public Works in charge of maintaining grounds.
- “Just like we’re held accountable, we are held to a certain standard, the city has to be held to a certain standard as well," said Board Chair Dawn Page.
Read more about the decision to revisit groundskeeping at the schools here.
Monday night also marked the final meeting for five of the board's nine members, including Page, who has served for 12 years.
The current board has eight women and one man, while the new board will consist of five women and four men.
Read more about the farewells, and one representative's promise to return, here.
As Trump promises deportations, Richmond police chief says immigrants will ‘have no issues’ with local cops
Richmond Police Chief Rick Edwards said his office probably wouldn’t play a role in any potential crackdown on immigrant communities under new president Donald Trump
“What I want to say to this community is we’re not focusing on that,” he said at Reva Trammell's 8th District meeting. “And that folks who have concerns about their immigration status will have no issues with the Richmond Police Department.”
- Henrico and Chesterfield police officials said they also do not have agreements in place with ICE to conduct immigration enforcement activities in their counties.
Today's sponsor:
VCU surpasses $500 million in sponsored funding
Virginia Commonwealth University is marking a milestone achievement in its renowned research enterprise. Highlighting ongoing and dramatic growth, VCU has surpassed the $500 million mark in sponsored funding for the first time.
“For the sixth year in a row, VCU has again broken its own record for sponsored funding, continuing its rise as one of the nation’s top 50 public research universities,” said VCU President Michael Rao, Ph.D. VCU's research impacts lives by addressing local, national and global challenges. Read more.
Where to buy a live Christmas tree in the Richmond area
About $10 million worth of Christmas trees are sold each year in Virginia, and there are 480 farms in the state that grow them.
See where to get your tree with our map, here.
Arctic blast holds in Richmond for a few more days
Meteorologist Sean Sublette says the persistent flow of air from the cold Canadian prairies will finally subside this coming weekend, and Richmond will settle into a weather pattern more typical for December.
- The first of two chances of rain arrives Monday or Tuesday next week, then a larger storm — at least in physical size — appears to push through around Wednesday or Thursday of next week.
In other news...
- Family of late VCU student Adam Oakes settles wrongful death lawsuit (Times-Dispatch)
- Chesterfield dad says son won counterfeit prizes in school fundraising contest: 'He couldn't believe it' (CBS 6)
- Sheetz planned on Broad Street near Parham headed for vote (BizSense)
The editor's desk
This weekend at the Firehouse Theatre, Starr Foster Dance is presenting "Page to Stage III," a program that choreographs original dance to works of literature. Two Richmonder contributors have work featured in the performance - Tim Wenzell and Sheena Jeffers.
Tickets are still available, with five performances scheduled.
Michael Phillips, founding editor
mphillips@richmonder.org
