Richmond Free Press © 2018 Paradigm Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.
VOL. 27 NO. 22
Dispute brewing over building
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA
www.richmondfreepress.com
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MAY 31-June 2, 2018
Senseless?
Fatal shooting of unarmed and naked Marcus-David Peters by Richmond Police generates questions, protests
By Jeremy M. Lazarus
An aging concrete warehouse that sits along Richmond’s East End waterfront appears to be standing in the way of Stone Brewing’s plans to build its new World Bistro & Gardens. Four years ago, when Stone Brewing came to Richmond to build its first East Coast operation, it agreed to renovate the two-story, 30,000-squarefoot warehouse on Water Street into its restaurant facility. As part of the deal, the city agreed to provide $31 million in long-term financing to the brewery through the city’s Economic Development Authority. That money was to enable the company to build its brewery that opened in 2016 and later create the restaurant in the landmark warehouse that sits on concrete columns over the roadway and which motorists have driven under for decades. In recent months, Stone officials advised the city
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Meet Shavaé Divyne Ward, Richmond Public Schools’ top student B1
By Jeremy M. Lazarus
Courtesy of Peters family/Associated Press
Princess Blanding shares a happy moment with her late brother, Marcus-David Peters, in this photo taken Oct. 15, seven months before he was fatally shot by a Richmond police officer.
The bizarre fatal shooting of Marcus-David Peters by a Richmond police officer continues to roil a city already reeling from too much gunfire. Peters family members and supporters believe the death of the 24-year-old Virginia Commonwealth University honors graduate on May 14 represents another case of an unarmed African-American needlessly killed by a police officer. Their protests will continue with a march at 1 p.m. Saturday, June 2, from VCU’s Siegel Center, 1200 W. Broad St., to the Richmond Police Department headquarters on West Grace Street. The march follows a community meeting May 26 at Second Baptist Church that drew about 200 people who were angry that police used deadly force on a naked, unarmed man who was acting erratically. Mr. Peters was shot just after 5:30 p.m. May 14 after he crashed his car, ran naked onto Interstate 95 and then charged the officer, 10-year veteran Michael Nyantakyi, who also is African-American. Officer Nyantakyi remains on administrative leave while the investigation continues. Chief Alfred Durham said once detectives complete the investigation and he reviews it, the information would go to Commonwealth’s Attorney Michael N. Herring, who will decide whether the shooting was justified. Still, Chief Durham has yet to ease the raw emotion surrounding the shooting despite his decision to release Officer Nyantakyi’s body camera video last Friday. The chief said he understands the community’s dismay, but he’s also concerned about the blowback for a
department that he said has worked to ensure that officers fire their weapons only as a last resort. “We are all deeply affected by what happened,” he said after the shooting. “Our officers do not take the use of deadly force lightly. I think it’s important to remember Officer that being naked does not Nyantakyi remove the threat.” Making the rounds on Facebook was a video of a 2002 case in the state of Washington in which a berserk, naked man who was pepper-sprayed disarmed the police officer and killed him. Princess Blanding, one of Mr. Peters’ 11 siblings, remains convinced that police could have handled the situation without killing her brother. She said she has no idea why her brother, a Henrico County resident and well-respected Essex County high school biology teacher who also worked part time as a security guard at The Jefferson Hotel and loved playing the piano, appeared to suffer a mental breakdown. She said her brother should be receiving mental health treatment today rather than being in his grave. “Marcus needed help, not death. The body camera footage released by the Richmond Police Department confirmed what I already knew,” Ms. Blanding said. “Marcus was unarmed, clearly in distress and in need of help, and instead of receiving help, he received two Please turn to A4
Dumped! RPS honors valedictorians
Roseanne Barr loses show over racist tweet Free Press wire report
By Ronald E. Carrington
Richmond’s high school valedictorians were honored last week at a luncheon filled with words of encouragement. The event was held May 24 at the Science Museum of Virginia, the city’s former train station, where murals of trains in the luncheon venue served as a metaphor for the journey upon which the top students are about to embark. Superintendent Jason Kamras told the student the entire city is proud of them. He also challenged the high achievers to be inclusive leaders and instruments of change. “As you take the next step, don’t let anyone tell you that you don’t have what it takes to succeed. Don’t let any barrier get in your way,” Mr. Kamras said in his keynote address. “Society is counting on you and we are expecting great things from you. We are cheering you on with love and support of your unyielding belief in your capacity for greatness,” he said. The honorees: Shavaé
ABC ended its revival of the 1990s hit “Roseanne” on Tuesday, hours after star and creator Roseanne Barr posted a tweet that compared former Obama administration official Valerie Jarrett, who is AfricanAmerican, to an ape. It was a rare move by a network to scrap its most popular entertainment program because of the off-screen behavior of a star. Ms. Barr “muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby=vj” Ms. Barr tweeted at 2:45 a.m. Tuesday. Hundreds of people are applauding ABC Entertainment President Channing Dungey for the gutsy decision to pull the plug on the show. Ms. Dungey, who made TV history in February 2016 when she became the first African-American woman to serve in that Ms. Jarrett role at one of the four major networks, issued a one-sentence statement Tuesday making it loud and clear that such racism will not be tolerated. “Roseanne’s Twitter statement is abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values, and we have decided to cancel her show,” Ms. Dungey stated. While Ms. Barr issued an apology tweet, almost immediately Ms. Dungey’s actions were praised by actors, directors, writers and others, including comedian Wanda Sykes, a consulting producer on the show, who had tweeted before Ms. Dungey’s announcement that she would not be returning to the show because of the bigotry. “THANK YOU,” writerproducer and “Scandal” creator Shonda Rhimes tweeted commending Ms. Dungey on Tuesday. By Jeremy M. Lazarus Ms. Rhimes, who recently moved from ABC to Netflix, Richmond City Council approved sending $1 million followed with two later tweets: to Richmond Public Schools on Tuesday to cover the cost “The terrible part is all of the of replacing dozens of sinks and water fountains that have talented innocent people who water contaminated with lead. worked on that show now suffer The 9-0 vote came at least 10 months after the council because of this.” agreed to provide the money. However, the governing body “But honestly (Ms. Barr) had to wait until Mayor Levar M. Stoney’s administration got what she deserved. As I made the money available. tell my 4 year old, one makes The action follows RPS’ release of test results for 23 a choice with one’s actions. school buildings that showed water with high levels of lead Roseanne made a choice. A flowing from four water fountains and 42 sinks. The school racist one. ABC made a choice. system expects to complete testing of all water sources in A human one.” all of its buildings within the next two months. Sara Gilbert, who plays Ms. The tests were conducted under a new state law that Barr’s daughter in the show, went into effect in July 2017. The law requires such testalso had disclosed to insiders ing in schools built prior to 1986, when lead water lines that she was considering quit-
$1M to stop lead flowing at schools
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Ava Reaves
Richmond Public Schools’ highest ranking seniors honored at the May 24 luncheon pause for a photograph with schools officials. They are, from left, Shavaé Ward, Open High School; Taylor Hendrick, Richmond Community High; Shakira Blackwell, Armstrong High; D’Jarnae Clark, Franklin Military Academy; Natalie Duke, Open High; Deshon Turner, John Marshall High; School Board Chair Dawn Page; Superintendent Jason Kamras; Irene Andrade, Huguenot High; Rocio Aquino, George Wythe High; Itzel Jimenez, Huguenot High; and Kasey Chapman, Thomas Jefferson High.
Ward, 4.92 GPA, and Natalie Duke, 4.65 GPA, Open High School; Kasey Chapman, 4.79 GPA, Thomas Jefferson High School; Itzel Jimenez, 4.71 GPA, and Irene Andrade, 4.48 GPA, Huguenot High School; Taylor Hendrick, 4.67 GPA,
Richmond Community High School; Deshon Turner, 4.28 GPA, John Marshall High School; Shakira Blackwell, 4.23 GPA, Armstrong High School; Rocio Aquino, 4.0 GPA, George Wythe High School; and D’Jarnae Clark,
3.75 GPA, Franklin Military Academy. Two students from both Open High and Huguenot High were included in the honors luncheon because a mix-up Please turn to A4
More maintenance money for RRHA By Jeremy M. Lazarus
Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority’s funding to fix up aging public housing units is poised to nearly double to nearly $11 million, even as the authority struggles to fix broken heating systems in nearly two dozen units. Virginia’s two U.S. senators, Tim Kaine and Mark Warner, jointly announced the increase in funding on May 22 for RRHA and 25 other authorities that operate public housing in the state. The extra money stems from the new federal budget approved in March, the two senators said, but they warned that such funding is under threat. President Trump has proposed eliminating capital
improvement funds for public housing beginning in the 2019 fiscal year that starts in October, they noted. The extra funding is at least temporary good news for RRHA, which, along with other housing authorities, has complained about shrinking federal funds that make it harder to maintain the 4,000 aging units RRHA manages in Richmond. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is the agency distributing the money. The $10.9 million awarded to RRHA represents a 76 percent increase from the $6.2 million that the authority received last year. “While we are pleased with the increase, it comes after more
than 10 years of annual federal funding reductions in the capital fund budget,” stated Orlando Artze, the RRHA’s interim chief executive officer. “In addition, this final allocation comes eight months into the current fiscal year that began October 1, 2017, so it’s made it more difficult to plan for improvements,” he noted. It is not clear, though, how much of the additional $4.7 million will be used to replace outdated boilers, doors, windows, wiring, plumbing and sewer lines. According to the 2017 RRHA budget, at least half of the money earmarked to meet major maintenance needs was used for other things. Please turn to A4