On Tuesday, May 20, the City’s Office on Aging and Persons with Disabilities and Anthem’s CareMore Medical Centers will sponsor a Senior Health and Wellness Fair for older adults, caregivers to seniors and providers of senior services. The Senior Health and Wellness Fair is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the grounds of Anthem Blue Cross/Blue Shield, which is located at 2015 Staples Mill Road, at the corner of West Broad Street and Staples Mill Road. This outdoor fair is designed to provide attendees with information from more than 40 vendors offering programs and services to seniors, along with health screenings, food and fitness demonstrations, makeovers, door prizes and great entertainment by Richmond’s oldies vocal group Bak N Da Day. Event attendees will also be able to obtain information on Virginia’s new Commonwealth Coordinated Care program, which is scheduled for statewide implementation on August 1. This new program will affect all recipients of full Medicare and Medicaid...

~ Mayor and Superintendent agree on emergency needs ~   Following a meeting between Mayor Dwight C. Jones and Richmond Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Dana T. Bedden, the Mayor committed to providing an additional $732,000 in emergency funding for schools’ capital projects. Dr. Bedden issued the Emergency Funding request at the School Board’s direction on Friday, May 9, 2014. The Mayor met with Dr. Bedden today to address the emergency request. “Our first order of business was to reach our budget agreement with City Council, which we announced on Monday,” said Mayor Jones. “I’m very pleased that the compromise with City Council led to an additional $2 million being added to the $5 million in my budget for new funding for capital needs in our schools. This represents nearly a 700% increase in capital funding. The additional $732,000 requested is to be added to those funds, and I’ve committed to identifying those funds for the schools’ use.” Mayor Jones and Dr. Bedden agreed that ...

Mayor Dwight C. Jones and Richmond City Council President Charles R. Samuels issued the following joint statement today: “We have reached an agreement to move the City’s budget forward. This compromise adds:     •    $2.05 million in new funding for additional capital needs for Richmond Public Schools. Added to the $5 million provided in the Mayor’s original budget, this represents a one-year increase of nearly 700% in capital funding for schools.     •    $1.5 million for bicycle infrastructure     •    $100,000 for the Oliver Hill Courts Building     •    $250,000 for blighted properties These measures will be funded by a $3.9 million reduction in capital funding for the proposed E-911 Center, while retaining funding to plan the facility. The agreement adds $3 million in funding for the Riverfront. This will be funded by the city’s anticipated FY14 revenue surplus. T...

~ Project completion targeted for end of 2014 ~ The City of Richmond today announced that ExxonMobil is submitting plans for the remediation and improvement of historic Ancarrow’s Landing, part of the James River Park System.  Before 1865, the site had supported transportation for local merchants; from the mid-1920s to 1962 it housed a Virginia Carolina Chemical Corporation (VCC) facility that mixed fertilizer, which resulted in soil contamination from lead and arsenic. Current conditions pose no risk to current receptors. Exxon Mobil Oil Corporation, a successor company to VCC through a merger, has voluntarily committed to the site’s cleanup and improvement efforts. “The City has been in talks with ExxonMobil about what we’d like to see happen in this important, historic area that is a key feature in our overall Riverfront Plan,” said Norman Merrifield, director of the City’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Community . “As a result of this planned remediation and ExxonMobil’...

~Grant funding provided for marketing, murals and façade improvement~   Mayor Dwight C. Jones today announced a $200,000 grant from Altria for the City’s Arts and Cultural District. The grant will support marketing, murals and façade improvements within the designated district, with the bulk of the funds focused on façade improvements. The Arts and Cultural District was officially designated as such in the spring of 2011. The area is a vibrant center of artistic, cultural, civic, and commercial activity and the region’s center of creativity and entertainment. The District is home to five of Richmond’s most significant entertainment venues including Richmond CenterStage, the National Theater, the Virginia Repertory Theatre and the Hippodrome. There is a burgeoning restaurant scene and a concentration of art galleries. “The Broad Street downtown corridor is the art and cultural hub of Richmond,” said Mayor Jones. “The revitalization of Broad Street is a top priority and this investm...

The League of American Bicyclists today recognized the City of Richmond and the Metropolitan Richmond Sports Backers with Bicycle Friendly Business (BFB) award designations for leading America toward a greener future. The City of Richmond received a bronze level BFB award for City Hall, Marshall Street Plaza and John Marshall Courts complex. Sports Backers received a silver level BFB award for their efforts of encouraging a more welcoming bicycle friendly atmosphere for their employees and the community. The City also received a bronze award for the third consecutive year as a Bicycle Friendly Community. With the announcement of 80 new and renewing BFBs today in 29 states and Washington, D.C., Richmond and Sports Backers join a cutting-edge group of more than 650 local businesses, government agencies and Fortune 500 companies across the United States that are transforming the American workplace. The U.S. is at an environmental turning point, and businesses across the country are addres...

Names Dr. Thad Williamson to city post as director of Office of Community Wealth Building   Mayor Dwight C. Jones today announced that Dr. Thad Williamson will serve as the central point of contact for the new Mayor’s Office of Community Wealth Building. The new office is a recommendation that grew out of the work of the Mayor’s Anti-Poverty Commission, now known as the Maggie L. Walker Initiative for Expanding Opportunity and Fighting Poverty. Mayor Jones established the Anti-Poverty Commission in 2011 to begin to lay the framework for de-concentrating poverty and transforming Richmond’s public housing. The Commission identified policy priorities, including: -          Workforce development -          Targeted economic development -          Development of a regional transportation network -          Ta...