Group will engage teacher voices to advance career preparation and year-round school goals   The application for Richmond Public Schools educators to join the city’s Educator Task Force (ETF) is open and available   here .   The mission of the ETF is to engage and elevate educators’ voices to support and advance Mayor Stoney’s children, youth and education priorities for his second term while responding to emerging priorities as needed. Teachers, counselors and other support staff will comprise the task force.   “In any conversation on supporting Richmond’s children and families, educator voices are irreplaceable,” said Mayor Stoney. “I’m hopeful the recommendations of this group of experienced professionals will support the success of Richmond’s children inside and outside the classroom.”   The task force’s recommendations will inform the work of the Office of Children and Families (OCF). Planned for FY22, OCF will also convene a Youth Advisory Council to guide its work.    The ETF wi

The City of Richmond today narrowed the field of proposed bidders for a resort casino development to three finalists. The three finalists selected by the City’s Evaluation Panel are:  Bally’s Richmond Casino Resort, Live! Casino & Hotel Richmond, and One Casino + Resort.  Six proposals were originally submitted and reviewed by the Evaluation Panel, which considered, among other factors, each proposal’s site control, feasibility of financial projections, organizational experience, community impact/benefits, location, potential city revenues, and economic development impact.  The top ranked proposals stood out because the operators provided strong proposals with detailed financial and operational analyses to support their vision for a resort casino in Richmond. The Evaluation Panel will enter into the next phase of evaluation and begin negotiations with these operators; while continuing to engage the Richmond community.  Proposals not advancing to the next round of consideration are:

At the March 22 meeting of Richmond City Council, the city administration introduced an ordinance to direct funds from the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation to paint the Pulse Bus Rapid Transit bus-only lanes red. “With this ordinance, we’ll join other pioneering cities in using red lanes to help complete our streets, building a safer and more efficient transit system for our riders,” said Mayor Stoney.   The pavement of the transit-only lanes will be painted red, either solid or hatched, starting with the stretch of Broad Street between Thompson Street and Foushee Street. At peak travel, approximately 14 buses per hour use that section of the major thoroughfare.   Red lanes have two key benefits: route efficiency and pedestrian safety. Clearly marked, bright red lanes help drivers understand when they must vacate a bus lane, which improves bus arrival times. The clear red markings also indicate to pedestrians that the traffic flow is different from other lanes, ins

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) awarded the City of Richmond Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD), Henrico County Economic Development Authority (HEDA), and project:Homes (p:H), a 501(c)3 organization focusing on safe, affordable housing in Central Virginia, collectively hereinafter referred to as Coalition,   with a $600,000 grant to assess properties under its Brownfields Program. The federal grant will provide funding for the City and its coalition partners to assess commercial and industrial properties in target areas with environmental contaminants and potential redevelopment or reuse opportunities.      “This Brownfields assessment grant is crucial to moving our region forward by helping to encourage redevelopment, recruit businesses, create well-paying jobs and revitalize neighborhoods in the City of Richmond and Henrico County”, said Keisha M. Birchett, Project Development Manager for the City of Richmond.   Brownfields are abandoned, idled, or u