Safety

Mourning lives lost in Richmond, 2011

Friday’s ceremony to remember the victims of homicide in Richmond has become an annual exercise, as McLaughlin uses her monthly meet-the-mayor meetings every December as a solemn occasion to reflect on the lives lost to violence in the city.

Richmond pays $1.5 million to family of mentally ill man who died in police custody

The city of Richmond agreed last week to pay $1.5 million to the family of Uriah Dach, a mentally ill man who died after a confrontation with police in 2008. Yet after three years and the finalization of the settlement, the details of what exactly happened to Dach have not been agreed upon. Police were called to Dach’s rented room in a building on Florida Avenue after Dach, 26, reportedly threatened a female resident. The responding officer asked Dach, who…

North Richmond man slain, city police on alert

Marquis Hamilton was smiling when he coaxed a store cashier into giving him a cigarette before wandering back to the street corner a few ticks past 8 p.m. on Friday night. Moments later, after an exchange of rapid gunfire at the corner of Market Avenue and Fifth Street, Hamilton was back.

“Ban the box” resolution passes, fracas erupts at City Council meeting

The City Council voted Tuesday to remove a question about criminal convictions from city employment applications, saying the yes/no “box” was an onerous requirement for ex-convicts. Question 14, displayed prominently on the first page of all applications for city jobs, asks: “Have you ever been convicted of a crime?” Opponents of the question have long felt that it dissuades potential applicants with a criminal record from applying, making it difficult for them to obtain employment and contributing to the already…

The ‘prince’ of North Richmond’s projects

In his songs and videos, he is “Macho,” the North Richmond everyman who sneers at his harrowing surroundings through jaundiced eyes. But despite the overt bravado and taunts toward rivals, the real Crummie is hopeful, witty, and funny, like an overgrown kid calloused by a life suffused in tragedy.