Nov. 12 Newsletter: Records not found
Weather: Highs climb back to 60, and pleasant weather may return this weekend.
On this date in 1984, the Standard Paper Manufacturing Company building in Manchester burns in a seven-alarm fire that takes 17 fire companies nearly three hours to contain. Portions of the building can still be seen from the floodwall.
Today's newsletter sponsored by Virginia Commonwealth University: As a top 20% global university, Virginia Commonwealth University is an unparalleled powerhouse of innovation and creative problem solving. VCU attacks challenges as opportunities. It's truly a university unlike any you’ve ever seen.
City’s lawyers say there’s no backup of lost phone at issue in former FOIA officer’s suit
Several months after she was named a defendant in a lawsuit related to transparency at Richmond City Hall, former city spokesperson Petula Burks reportedly lost her city-issued phone in an airport.
In a new court document, attorneys representing Burks and the city revealed there was no digital backup made of the phone that went missing, even though the city was already on notice it was being sued, and local governments have an obligation to preserve the messages.
Affordable housing and other nonprofits launch campaign in support of zoning code changes
A coalition including many of Richmond’s most active affordable housing developers has launched a campaign in support of the city’s ongoing effort to overhaul its 1970s-era zoning code.
Members of the new coalition argue the refresh could help alleviate some of the costs and difficulty of developing affordable housing in a city where almost one-fifth of residents live below the poverty line. Read more here.
Avula admin taps Segal as Richmond’s permanent fire chief
City officials celebrated the grand opening of the newly replaced Fire Station 21 with the announcement that current interim Fire Chief Jeffrey Segal has been chosen to lead the department on a permanent basis.
The new station has a community room meant to be used as an asset for the public. It also features an upgraded wellness facility, a decontamination room meant to minimize cancer risks and more private living spaces to better accommodate the increasingly diverse firefighting workforce. Read more here.
Council recap: Rental inspection program passes, but officials still have to decide where to use it
Here's what happened Monday night:
- Council formally signed off on the creation of a new rental inspection program meant to give the city another enforcement tool against negligent landlords. The rental inspection districts the city envisions would most likely only be applied to specific housing complexes, not to entire neighborhoods.
- The standard towing fee for private-property lots will increase from $135 to $195. An additional $30 fee can be added for tows that take place overnight, on weekends or on holidays.
- Council transferred $2 million to the city’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund from a pot of one-time money that was previously going mostly unused. Read more here.
School Board votes yes on changes to collective bargaining procedures
After two months of back and forth between Richmond Public Schools’ unions and administrators over how the groups can collectively bargain, the Richmond School Board voted Tuesday night to accept administrators’ changes to the process. Read more here.
Today's sponsor:
VCU is pursuing the acquisition of the Altria Center for Research and Technology
The 450,000-square-foot center would replace outdated facilities and accelerate VCU's groundbreaking research and cutting-edge health sciences programs.
Key takeaways:
- Replacing older buildings will accommodate transdisciplinary teaching and research and eliminate nearly $400 million in deferred maintenance.
- Acquisition is five to nine years faster and less than one-third the cost of new construction.
- Includes state-of-the-art research labs and academic space at a fraction of the cost to build new.
- Modern research and teaching space is essential to keep Virginia at the forefront of medical innovation and education.
In other news
- Miller, Gecker convert Manchester apartment building into condos, offer financing to buyers (Richmond BizSense)
- Watch the 69th Annual Commonwealth’s Veterans Day Ceremony (CBS 6)
- Reforest Richmond’s Tree Week plants the seeds of a greener city (VPM)
The editor's desk
I will never, ever be ready for that first blast of winter. But I also don't like the second, third, or really any cold stretch.
Michael Phillips, founding editor
mphillips@richmonder.org
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