The Woodland Restoration Foundation, a group dedicated to preserving the grounds of Woodland Cemetery, is in the process of fundraising and renovating the Eastern Henrico cemetery’s former chapel into a museum to house artifacts and memorabilia of those interred at Woodland. Woodland Cemetery, established in 1917 and located just north of I-64 at Mechanicsville Turnpike, is the second-largest historically African American cemetery in the area at 29 acres, next to the 60-acre Evergreen Cemetery. Woodland was created two years before perpetual care in cemeteries was required legally. Marvin Harris, the cemetery’s owner and the creator of the Woodland Restoration Foundation,...Article Link

Support the show

More financial relief for Virginia tenants and landlords; another day with fewer than 90 new COVID-19 cases in Henrico; the state launches its new vaccination pre-registration website; T-Mobile opens a new customer care center in Eastern Henrico; the House of Delegates debates a plan to mandate in-person learning; Henrico Schools opens its preschool application process. (Today's Henrico News Minute is brought to you by the Henrico County Broadband Survey.)Article Link

Support the show

A Virginia Senate committee recently killed a bill intended to minimize police misconduct and incentivize accountability among law enforcement. House Bill 1948, introduced by Del. Mark Levine, D-Alexandria, required law enforcement officers to report misconduct by fellow officers. Another part of the measure, which some opponents called too subjective, was that on-duty officers provide aid as circumstances objectively permitted to someone suffering a life-threatening condition, or serious bodily injury. The bill also expanded the current definition of bias-based profiling, which is prohibited in Virginia, to include gender identity and sexual orientation. Bias-based profiling is when a police officer takes action...Article Link

Support the show

Residents can share their ideas and vision for the future of an area that includes Short Pump Town Center at a virtual, county-hosted design charrette Feb. 22-26. The daily sessions will take place through the charrette hub at http://henricoconnects.com. A charrette is an intensive, interactive planning session that encourages public participation and facilitates collaboration between residents, designers and planners on a vision for development. Participants can share ideas and will have the opportunity to provide immediate feedback to professional staff. The study area includes Short Pump Town Center and nearby properties along West Broad Street. All sessions will be held...Article Link

Support the show

T-Mobile U.S. Inc. has officially opened its 131,000-square-foot customer care center in the former Sam’s Club building at The Shops at White Oak Village in Eastern Henrico. Aston Capital purchased the site in November 2019 through an affiliate, then converted the space into Class A office space for T-Mobile, which is moving 500 employees from a location in Short Pump to the site and has plans to add more than 500 more employees eventually. The -million makeover was completed in October.Article Link

Support the show

The Virginia Rent Relief Program will add 4 million in federal funding to help Virginians affected by the COVID-19 pandemic stay in their homes. Gov. Ralph Northam made the announcement Tuesday. The RRP is funded through the Emergency Rental Assistance program included in the recent federal stimulus package and will assist households and landlords with rent payments to avoid eviction. “Since the beginning of the pandemic, we have prioritized efforts to keep Virginians safely in their homes,” he said. “There continues to be an overwhelming need for additional relief to help those struggling to make ends meet. This new federal...Article Link

Support the show

The following area students were named to the fall 2020 dean’s list at the University of Alabama: Christin Elia, Tyler Ladin and Claudia Long, of Glen Allen; and Stewart Berling, Carter Chambliss, Caroline Curtis, Sydney DuPriest, Madeleine Miller, Elizabeth O’Neill, Cecelia Phillips, Thi Xuan Ngan Trang and Logan Brown, of Henrico. To qualify for the dean’s list, students must earn a semester grade point average of 3.5 or higher. *** The following area students were named to the fall 2020 president’s list at the University of Alabama: Lauren Golmon, Emily Kinsey and Meredith Taylor, of Glen Allen; and Trinity Barnett,...Article Link

Support the show

Henrico County’s new daily number of COVID-19 cases has remained in the double-digits for a third straight day, as the county reported 81 new cases on Tuesday, according to the Virginia Department of Health. The county’s seven-day moving count continues to decline, down Monday to an average of 102 cases. The last time Henrico reported three consecutive days with fewer than 90 new cases a day was Dec. 1-3. On Tuesday, Henrico also reported three new virus-related hospitalizations and no new deaths related to the virus, according to VDH data. As of Feb. 12, the positivity rate among PCR tests...Article Link

Support the show

A bipartisan bill to mandate an in-person learning option is facing pushback from Republican leadership in the Virginia House. “This is the bill that speaks to opening schools,” said the legislation’s sponsor, Virginia state Senator Siobhan Dunnavant (R-Henrico), when she presented it Monday in the Education Subcommittee for the House of Delegates. The bill has already passed the full Senate, and it took one step closer to reaching the house floor for a vote when it advanced out of the subcommittee early Monday morning with bipartisan support. House Republican leaders, however, spoke out against the bill after the meeting, making...Article Link

Support the show

Henrico County Public Schools Tuesday opened the application process for its 2021-22 Early Learning Preschool program. The program is designed to provide a preschool environment for children who live in Henrico County and who will be 4 years old by Sept. 30. Interested parents and guardians should submit an application and required documents online at henricoschools.us/preschool/. Applicants may also hand-deliver their documents by appointment. After submitting an application and documents, applicants will be contacted by HCPS’ pre-K family liaison staff to complete the process. Email [email protected] or call (804) 328-8104 with questions. For details, including preschool sites, visit http://www.henricoschools.us/preschool/. Children...Article Link

Support the show