Illustration by Karly Andersen
Highs
Mayor Stoney Pops the Question
The city’s bachelor mayor, Levar Stoney, proposed to Brandy Washington on Feb. 22 (2-22-22) at Libby Hill Park, with the Richmond skyline as the backdrop. Stoney, known for keeping a lid on his personal life, and Washington, who works at Altria as an associate manager of regulatory strategy, are expected to wed in a private ceremony in February 2023.
Richmond Spiders Go Dancing
After more than a decade of being overshadowed by crosstown rival Virginia Commonwealth University, the University of Richmond’s men’s basketball team ripped off four wins in the Atlantic 10 tournament in March, punching a ticket to the NCAA tournament after an 11-year hiatus. Longtime coach Chris Mooney silenced his critics (the team experienced back-to-back 20-loss seasons from 2017-19) and beat VCU in the A-10 tournament, knocking the Rams out of the Big Dance.
UR Drops Names of Slaveholders and Segregationists
A year after the University of Richmond’s Board of Visitors opted not to rename campus buildings honoring racist forebears, sparking student and faculty protests, the university came to its senses. In March, the board decided to rename six buildings, including two honoring Robert Ryland, the university’s slave-owning founder, and segregationist Douglas Southall Freeman, a former rector and trustee. Then in September, the board voted to rename the T.C. Williams School of Law as the University of Richmond School of Law. Williams, a former trustee who operated tobacco businesses in Richmond, owned up to 40 enslaved people, according to tax records. For a university literally built atop a burying ground for enslaved people, this was an important step forward.
Richmond Kickers Celebrate 30th Anniversary
After marking the team’s 30th anniversary on May 7, the Richmond Kickers went on to capture a regular-season title in their United Soccer League division, League One, before making it to the playoff semifinals. Though the squad fell to the Chattanooga Red Wolves, 1-0, in the Oct. 29 semifinal match, making it that far meant the team was able to host a postseason contest at home for the first time since 2014.
Get ‘Real’
We will never love another marketing slogan for Richmond as much as we did the Greater Richmond Chamber of Commerce’s short-lived “Get Off in Richmond” billboard campaign. That being said, the city’s new $450,000 branding initiative that was announced in June — “Richmond Real: Real people. Real places. Real stories” — is a respectable effort.
Defaced Davis Statue Debuts at The Valentine
In June, the paint-splattered Jefferson Davis statue, formerly of Monument Avenue, made its debut as protest art at The Valentine. On loan from the Black History Museum & Cultural Center of Virginia, The Valentine’s Davis exhibit seemed to answer a couple of key questions that arose out of the protests of 2020: What should be done with the toppled statues, and how do you “contextualize” the fallen Confederates for future generations? Display them in all their defaced glory, it turns out, lying on their backsides with strips of toilet paper still clinging to their necks.
Doom Is No Man’s Second Choice
If there’s anything worse than naming something through an online poll, it’s when the inevitably goofy winning entry gets ignored. (We’re looking at you, RRS Sir David Attenborough, aka Boaty McBoatface.) So it was much appreciated when Venture Richmond’s Twitter tournament to name the city’s new bike lane sweeper not only produced some quality options — Bike Dyson, the Grim Sweeper — but also picked the best name, MF Broom, a tribute to the late rapper Daniel Dumile and his hip-hop sobriquet MF Doom.
Regal Beagles
Over the summer, 4,000 beagles were rescued from a breeding facility in Cumberland County following a consent decree between the Department of Justice, which had alleged numerous Animal Welfare Act violations, and Envigo RMS, the company running the facility, which admitted no guilt in the agreement. A wave of adoptions ensued, with a 7-year-old female beagle named Mamma Mia landing a particularly cushy forever home with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, joining the couple’s two children and the family’s black Lab, Pula, and their other rescue beagle, Guy, in August.
Meet Tubby
When Richmond’s C.F. Sauer Co. was sold to Charlotte, North Carolina-based private equity firm Falfurrias Capital Partners in 2019, a chill went up the spine of Duke’s Mayonnaise lovers across the region — would the brand’s new owners mess with perfection? Three years later, following August’s introduction of Duke’s massively eyebrowed mascot, a giant jar of mayo named Tubby, it appears that the answer is yes, but mostly in a good way: Tubby’s Instagram admission on Oct. 20 that he was staying up late with the rest of us awaiting the release of Taylor Swift’s latest album, “Midnights,” enhanced our brand loyalty.
Diamond District Developer Selected
In mid-September, city officials announced the selection of a developer, RVA Diamond Partners, to build a mixed-use project on 67 acres along Arthur Ashe Boulevard. The blockbuster deal includes $2.44 billion worth of apartments, condos, offices and retail — and a $100 million ballpark for the Richmond Flying Squirrels.
Lows
Glenn Youngkin Confuses Black Senators
On Feb. 11, freshly inaugurated Gov. Glenn Youngkin mixed up two of the state Senate’s Black Democrats — Sen. Louise Lucas, president pro tempore of the Senate, and Sen. Mamie Locke. Youngkin, it turns out, sent Lucas a text congratulating her for a Black History Month speech that Locke delivered, prompting trolling on Twitter for the faux pas. Lucas posted side-by-side photos of herself and Locke with a bit of advice: “Study the photos and you will get this soon!” Youngkin apologized and later gifted each senator with one of his trademark red vests.
Fox Elementary and the School Board Combust
On Feb. 11, William Fox Elementary on Hanover Avenue went up in flames. In the aftermath, there was finger-pointing, with questions about faulty fire alarms and a laundry list of unaddressed issues at Fox and other schools identified by the Fire Marshal. The fire, which occurred on a Friday night, was also a gut punch to the Fan District community, where the school has been an anchor for more than a century. It all led to public outcry over the city’s aging, potentially unsafe schools — 10 of which haven’t been upgraded or renovated in at least 50 years — and added to growing tensions on a fractured school board. Fox students were shuffled to First Baptist Church on Monument Avenue, then they finished out the year at the previously vacant Clark Springs Elementary in Randolph. The cause of the blaze was undetermined. Students remain at the Clark Springs facility pending the rebuilding of Fox.
Parade Rest
The Monument Avenue Easter Parade began in 1973 as a neighborhood celebration that grew into an affair of flower-adorned bonnets, seersucker suits, costumed pets, front porch music and art exhibits attended by more than 30,000 people. The pandemic caused the event to be canceled in 2020 and 2021. Echelon Event Management planned for a big return of the Easter bonnets in 2022, but citing insufficient funds to cover security and street closing, it canceled the event again this year. Echelon’s Jessica Corbett told the Richmond Times-Dispatch that sponsorships would be sought for Easter’s 2023 revival.
Casino Fight, Part II
A year after Richmond voters rejected a proposed casino in South Richmond, state Sen. Joe Morrissey introduced legislation to allow a casino referendum in Petersburg. It was nixed by a state Senate committee, however, and Richmond was later barred by state lawmakers from holding a do-over referendum this year. Meanwhile, a study by the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission found in October that Petersburg and Richmond could both successfully operate casinos, increasing overall gaming revenue in the state, but there’s a catch: If only one casino were built, one in Richmond would generate nearly $100 million more in revenue, and 700 additional jobs, than a single casino in Petersburg. The debate resumes in the next General Assembly session. Let the games begin.
Washington Commanders Decamp
The training-camp union of Richmond with Washington’s NFL squad never really felt like it would go the distance. From the start in 2013, there were issues, with the requirement that the city pay the team $500,000 in cash and in-kind services each year raising eyebrows, but having Washington quarterback Robert Griffin III in town following his thrilling Rookie of the Year season smoothed out a lot of the discord. Each year brought diminishing returns, and by the time the Commanders announced in June that they would not be returning to Richmond for training camp, no one was surprised.
Enrichmond Foundation Dissolves
Growing concern about the lack of upkeep at two historic Black cemeteries led to Enrichmond Foundation Executive Director John Sydnor’s ouster in April. And in June, the nonprofit, established in 1990 to help the city maintain public parks, dissolved. But there’s a problem: Enrichmond served as an umbrella organization for nearly 100 community volunteer groups, and roughly $3 million in funds the nonprofit was managing for those groups remains unaccounted for. The city will likely assume control of the neglected East End and Evergreen cemeteries, but others are still waiting for an explanation. What happened to the foundation, and where did the money go?
The Mass Shooting That Wasn’t
On July 6, Richmond Police Chief Gerald Smith held a press conference to announce that a “hero citizen” led to the arrests of two Guatemalan men who were plotting a mass shooting at Dogwood Dell on July 4. Then all hell broke loose. Apparently, there was no evidence of a planned mass shooting at the Byrd Park amphitheater, and the two men were detained on charges that had nothing to do with a mass shooting plot — one on a firearms charge and the other for being in the country illegally. Chief Smith later apologized for the confusion — he was informed by staff minutes before the presser that the location of the foiled mass shooting was “unknown,” according to a Richmond Times-Dispatch investigation — and went on a “community conversations” tour. Smith, however, did so ungracefully, refusing to engage directly with citizens. Chief Smith resigned from his post in October.
VCU Scammed
If you ever wonder why you still get scam emails asking you to send money to a complete stranger, the news that VCU got swindled out of nearly $470,000 by an email con artist provided something of an answer. To be fair, Olabanji Egbinola, a dual citizen of the United Kingdom and Nigeria who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud on Sept. 28, posed as an employee of a local construction firm that has worked with VCU, so no one fell for the tired Nigerian prince hustle. Egbinola will be sentenced on Feb. 13.
Transgender Student Protections Rolled Back
On Sept. 16, Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s administration overhauled state policy on the treatment of transgender students in public schools, requiring parental approval for changes to students’ names and pronouns and restricting the use of bathrooms and locker rooms based on a students’ biological sex. In essence, the policy eliminates the role of schools as a safe haven for transgender students, especially those who fear coming out to parents and family. Less than a week later, thousands of students across the state walked out of schools in protest. LGBTQ advocates are outraged by the new policy, questioning its legality and raising concern that the changes will lead to increased bullying, along with emotional and physical abuse of trans students — at school and at home.
