RVA’s Got Issues

While we gear up for Season 3, we invite you to revisit some of our favorite episodes from previous seasons. --- Evictions seem like a simple issue. Renters should pay their rent. When they don't, they need to leave. But the realities of renting and leaving are much more complicated than that. Today, Rich talks with a housing expert to learn why eviction court is rarely a winning prospect for rent...

While we gear up for Season 3, we invite you to revisit some of our favorite episodes from previous seasons. For almost a century, local government has provided “public housing” for our most vulnerable residents. But here in RVA, there’s a plan to replace our public housing communities with something completely different. On this episode, Rich sits down with Steven Nesmith, the CEO of the ⁠Richmon...

While we gear up for Season 3, we invite you to revisit some of our favorite episodes from previous seasons. --- There’s a Corrections crisis in Virginia! State prisons and juvenile facilities are facing claims of unsafe conditions for both staff and the incarcerated, and lawmakers are starting to push back. Rich talks to VPM news reporter Keyris Manzanares and the Virginia Mercury’s Charlotte Ren...

While we gear up for Season 3, we invite you to revisit some of our favorite episodes from previous seasons. Four elementary schools in Richmond are reopening in July for the start of their extended school year. This "grand experiment" aims to reverse COVID-related learning loss in struggling schools. But will keeping kids (and their teachers) in a classroom fuel burnout? One thing you WON'T find...

While we gear up for Season 3, we invite you to revisit some of our favorite episodes from previous seasons. A flood of renewable energy projects are hitting the RVA region. What does it mean for households in the region? And is it enough to satiate our soaring energy demands? A listener asks Rich: am I being gaslit by these door knockers? After a canvasser says a "no soliciting sign" doesn't appl...

While we gear up for Season 3, we invite you to revisit some of our favorite episodes from previous seasons. Climate change is here, in RVA, today. But some neighborhoods are much more vulnerable to excessive heat and flooding than others. Rich talks with a local climate scientist about inequities in our climate vulnerability, as well as the city's plan to address them. Everyone seems to have a DO...

Earlier this year, Richmond faced empty pipes, boil advisories, and a city that suddenly couldn’t count on its most basic need. When can we trust our water supply - and our city government? Rich sits down with Richmond DPU Director Scott Morris, the guy now responsible for the city’s water supply, to find out.

Dominion Energy delivers electricity to millions of homes and businesses in Virginia. But these days there’s tremendous pressure on the company with skyrocketing energy demands. How will Dominion meet the Commonwealth’s needs and clean energy goals, while still keeping rates affordable? Rich sits down with Dominion CEO, Bob Blue, to find out.

For the first time in 50 years, the city’s zoning code – the rules that say what can be built where – is being revised. It’s definitely time: the need for housing is desperate! But with a stunning reversal of white flight – an influx of young professionals into the city – how do we preserve the Richmond we love for everyone? Rich talks to City Council's Ellen Robertson and Home of VA's Tom Fitzpat...

Richmond is voting for the office of the Commonwealth’s Attorney. Like the District Attorneys you’ve seen on TV, the CA is the city’s prosecutor, and has a huge impact on our local criminal justice system. Two candidates are competing in a June Democratic primary election; whoever wins will likely take office. So this June vote is crucial – with early voting already underway. We’ll hear from both...

Everyone in RVA is worried about the economy. Uncertainty rules, with businesses and consumers, owners and renters, buyers and sellers all wondering what to think. Rich sits down with economist Sonya Waddell of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. What are the numbers really telling us about Virginia’s economy, and what’s next? Plus, we meet a group that brings people together through an unlikely...

New members may be bringing a fresh approach to the Richmond City Council, one that sees a role for City Council in challenging the Mayor – not for drama’s sake, but to hold him, and city administrators, accountable to residents. Sarah Abubaker is one of these newly elected Council members calling for change. Can she help make it happen?

Danny Avula is the Mayor of Richmond. He just finished his first 100 days, and he's finding out what it’s like to try to follow through on campaign promises. One lesson he’s probably learning the hard way: Changing city government can’t happen overnight. It’s like turning an oil tanker – it happens slowly, and you need a lot of room.

There’s a Corrections crisis in Virginia! State prisons and juvenile facilities are facing claims of unsafe conditions for both staff and the incarcerated, and lawmakers are starting to push back. Rich talks to VPM news reporter Keyris Manzanares and the Virginia Mercury’s Charlotte Rene Woods to find out what they've uncovered.

It seems like every day brings new national news stories about deportations, ICE raids, or student visas being revoked. This is fueling fear not just in the immigrant community, but even among people here in the country legally. Rich talks to an advocate who serves RVA's Latino community, as well as an attorney who represents Virginia immigrants. How is this immigration crackdown affecting people...

The Trump Administration is taking on higher ed, and Virginia universities are on notice. VCU hasn’t been singled out, but IS facing program cuts, and is already making changes to try to prevent more. Who can our local institutions turn to for help? Rich talks with Virginia Congressman Rob Wittman about Trump’s challenges – and threats -- to higher education, and what the Congressman has been doin...

Henrico County: what's it all about, where is it going, and how is it going to shape the future of RVA? Henrico County Manager John Vithoulkas joins Rich to answer questions from our listener voicemail line. They talk about everything from federal funding cuts to the Green City development to Henrico’s response to the Richmond water crisis. With all of the instability in Washington, can Henrico st...

It's time to decide the People’s Budget of Richmond! Richmond's government has set aside $3M of YOUR money – and now YOU get to decide what to do with it. This participatory budget program has reached the voting stage, and now anyone who lives, works, or goes to school in the city – age 14 and up! – can vote on projects in their council district. Rich sits down with City Council staffer Leidiana D...

Rich talks to two local sports czars about the business of sports tourism, a billion-dollar industry that’s become vital to the economic health of the entire region. From youth to colleges to the pros, RVA is building a sports infrastructure that’s meant to help both residents and visitors score big. Plus: STAND UP FOR RICHMOND! We’ll talk to members of the River City Red Army about their support...

What is nuclear fusion, and why is it coming to Chesterfield County? Virginia's energy needs are growing exponentially, and we are going to need every kilowatt we can get if we don’t want our energy bills to grow with them. Adam Sledd of the Dominion Energy Innovation Center returns to the pod to talk with Rich about nuclear fusion, data centers, and the future of RVA’s energy – and energy bills....

Public education is facing huge challenges across the country, as the Trump administration takes steps to possibly abolish the federal Department of Education. Add to that demands for immigration enforcement and cuts to Diversity programs, mix in some longstanding structural and staffing concerns, and our local school systems may be facing more challenges than ever. Rich sits down with Richmond Pu...

Evictions seem like a simple issue. Renters should pay their rent. When they don't, they need to leave. But the realities of renting and leaving are much more complicated than that. Today, Rich talks with a housing expert to learn why eviction court is rarely a winning prospect for renters. The city's plan? Pair tenants facing eviction with a lawyer for free. Later we talk with a lawyer who alread...

For almost a century, local government has provided “public housing” for our most vulnerable residents. But here in RVA, there’s a plan to replace our public housing communities with something completely different. On this episode, Rich sits down with Steven Nesmith, the CEO of the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority. He is spearheading this bold new plan, and a "tough love" approach, tha...

What's 45 days long, based in Richmond, and shapes the future of the state of Virginia? On this episode, Rich unpacks this year's General Assembly with veteran state politics reporter Michael Pope. A big question EVERYONE is wrestling with is how to prepare for the changes coming out of Washington. Separately, Democrats are headed towards yet another veto showdown with Gov. Glenn Youngkin. But the...

Hamilton Glass is seen by many as the founding father of Richmond's mural movement. He instigated a huge public mural project featured in the PBS Doc called Mending Walls. The project brought 30 artists from different cultural backgrounds together to collaborate on 16 murals in Richmond. The slogan for the effort was "we need to talk" about race and the artists' formative experiences. On the proje...