Jesse Vaughan to be inducted into Hall of Fame B2
Richmond Free Press
VOL. 27 NO. 11
© 2018 Paradigm Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA
www.richmondfreepress.com
ee Fr
Fr ee
Floyd Carter Sr., Tuskegee Airman, dies at 95 B4
March 15-17, 2018
Walkout City students join Wednesday’s national demonstration for tougher gun laws on one-month anniversary of Florida high school massacre By Ronald E. Carrington
Hundreds of Richmond area students joined their peers across the country and walked out of classrooms at 10 a.m. Wednesday to demand stricter gun laws in a national show of unity and solidarity one month after the bloody massacre that killed 17 students and staff at a Florida high school. Roughly half of the 751 students at the Maggie L. Walker Governor’s School for Gov-
ernment and International Studies marched out and stood on the front steps of the Lombardy Street school. Like many of the demonstrations across the country, the students’ walkout lasted 17 minutes to honor of the 17 lives lost when Nikolas Cruz, a former student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., opened fire on Feb. 14. He was armed with an AK-15 militaryPlease turn to A4
Courtney Jones
Hundreds of students at the Maggie L. Walker Governor’s School in Richmond participate in an emotional tribute to the 17 people slain at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., during Wednesday’s national student walkout.
VCU center developing master plan for historic Evergreen Cemetery site into a memorial park is still months away, the VCU consultants are getRichmond’s biggest university is ting ideas from VCU undergraduates taking a role in restoring the historic, about the future of the burial ground but neglected Evergreen Cemetery. that sits on the city’s eastern border The Enrichmond Foundation, with Henrico County, just a stone’s the new owner of the 127-year-old thrown from the public Oakwood African-American cemetery, has hired Cemetery. the center for Urban and Regional The students are focusing on Dr. Howell Analysis in Virginia Commonwealth specific areas, such as improving the University’s Wilder School of Government and visitor experience, upgrading access and creating Public Affairs to create a master plan for the community connections. burial ground, which includes the graves of One of the class projects is to consider such notables as banker and businesswoman ways to reduce noise from traffic along East Maggie L. Walker and newspaper editor and Richmond Road and from a nearby city dump banker John Mitchell Jr. While completion of a plan to transform the Please turn to A4 By Jeremy M. Lazarus
In his honor Above, Raymond H. Boone Jr. unveils the honorary city street sign that pays tribute to his father, the late founder, publisher and editor of the Richmond Free Press. Location: 5th and Franklin streets in front of the Free Press building. Right, attendees included, from left, Richmond City Councilwoman Ellen F. Robertson, 6th District, who spearheaded the recognition effort for Mr. Boone, Mayor Levar M. Stoney, Mr. Boone’s son and City Councilman Michael J. Jones, 9th District. Ahead of the unveiling, below, Councilwoman Robertson offers remembrances of Mr. Boone and his impact as a crusading journalist to about 75 wellwishers and reporters during a ceremony inside the Free Press building. Other speakers included Mayor Stoney, Mr. Boone’s son and Free Press Managing Editor Bonnie V. Winston.
Photos by James Haskins/Richmond Free Press
James Haskins/Richmond Free Press
Jubilant John Marshall players show off their 3A state championship trophy after their big victory last Friday at Virginia Commonwealth University’s Siegel Center. This was the Justices first visit to the winner’s circle at the state level since 2014.
John Marshall High wins state basketball championship Stories by Fred Jeter
The best may be yet to come for the John Marshall High School basketball team. Tall, talented and boasting of having almost everything but seniors, the team strolled to the 3A state basketball championship title last Friday, routing Western Albemarle High School 63-42 before a crowd of 5,400 at the Siegel Center in Richmond. It was apropos the state final was played on the court where “Havoc” was made famous by former Virginia Commonwealth University Coach Shaka Smart. Demanding a breathtaking pace with full-floor defensive pressure — “Havoc” style — Please turn to A4
U.Va. goes into March Madness ranked No.1
The University of Virginia has enjoyed having the nation’s best basketball team throughout this regular season. Now the Cavaliers hope to maintain No. 1 status throughout “March Madness.” Seeded first in the NCAA’s South region, the Cavaliers (31-2) will open NCAA Tournament play on Friday, March 16, in Charlotte, N.C., against No. 16 seed University of Maryland-Baltimore County. Tipoff is 9:20 p.m. The second round, also in Charlotte, will be Sunday, March 18. If U.Va. beats UMBC as expected, the Cavaliers will play the winner of the Creighton University-Kansas State University game. The NCAA Sweet 16 will be March 22 through 25 in Atlanta, with the Final Four set for March 31 through April 2 at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. The U.Va. team has no players from the Richmond area. However, the Cavaliers’ assistant coach, Jason Williford, who is now in his ninth season, is a former standout athlete at Richmond’s John Marshall High School.
Varina High School claims state 5A crown
The Varina High School Blue Devils kept winning and winning until there were no more games to win. The Eastern Henrico County school ended its best-ever season on the hardwood on March 8 by defeating Wakefield High School of Arlington 64-60 to clinch the state 5A basketball title. In prevailing at the Siegel Center, Varina notched its first state hoops championship while finishing the season 26-2. It was the Blue Devils’ first trip to the state championship final since 1960. In that game, Varina lost 36-35 to Waynesboro High School in the old Group II final. Amember of that 1960 Varina squad was Ken Willard, who went on to play in the NFL. This year’s Varina stars included Tyrese Jenkins, who had 21 points, and freshman A.J. Williams, who scored 17 points. Varina Coach Andrew Lacey’s squad defeated Highland Springs High School, also of Henrico, in the state quarterfinals and Hampton High School in the semifinals to advance to the final.
Confederate group calls for more rebel statues in Richmond By Saraya Wintersmith
As the city of Richmond grapples with whether to remove the statues to Confederates from Monument Avenue, the Sons of Confederate Veterans is calling for more to be built — with signs putting them in context to be placed at the African Burial Ground in Shockoe Bottom. Ms. Coleman At a meeting last week with members of the Monument Avenue Commission, members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans’ local unit said three statues should be constructed to honor Confederate women, captured Confederate
soldiers and black people who “willing or not, loyally served” the rebels. “With white men mostly off in the armies, trusted slaves ran or helped white women run the large plantations,” said Robert Lamb, a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans in making the case for a statue to AfricanAmericans in the Confederacy. “Had the blacks mounted a serious reDr. Ayres sistance or work stoppage, they could’ve crippled the Confederacy,” he continued. “They didn’t do so. Please turn to A4