Amid racial strife, Magnus hit resistance in imposing his program

magnus and lori ritter

When he took the helm in early 2006, Richmond Police Chief Chris Magnus looked to impose his geographically centered policing strategy in a department accustomed to mobile crime suppression teams and cleaved with persistent racial division. “Unfortunately our department is greatly segregated,” then-Captain Ed Medina wrote in a memo reviewed by Magnus in 2006. “We…

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Councilmen host breakfast for local ministers

What do you get when you put 50 church ministers and two city councilmen in a room together for three hours? A few sermons, frequent choruses of “A-men!” and some lively discussion about how to improve the City of Richmond. Saturday morning’s second “Annual Informational Community Breakfast,” hosted by councilmen Corky Booze and Nat Bates,…

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Richmond 2011: Images of a time and place

It was a year of indelible images in Richmond, and we were privileged to be behind the camera lens to capture a few of them.
Winnowing down the thousands of images we gathered in Richmond’s streets, parks, boardrooms, shores, restaurant halls and other spots was no easy task, and the results are no doubt imperfect. Undaunted, we present to you a handful of the images that hit us hardest, with some candid reflections from the photographers who captured them.

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Richmond 2011: The year in review

rhonda harris richmond

2011 was quite a year, to borrow a favorite phrase from longtime resident Sims Thompson, in “our fair city.” I know that’s vague, but it’s tough to turn a pithy phrase that sums up a year in a vibrant, bustling and changing city. We had tragedy and triumph, tumult and harmony. Alliances and rivalries. Echoes of the past and glimmers from the future.

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Public safety leaders seek peace – among themselves

chris magnus, corky booze, ons

City Manager Bill Lindsay said late Wednesday he’ll order an investigation into who leaked information to the press and a councilmember about a non-criminal Sheriff’s stop involving an Office of Neighborhood Safety staff member. The move is aimed in part at easing the concerns of ONS staff, who have complained publicly and privately about what…

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