Chris Suarez

5 days ago | virginiabusiness.com | Chris Suarez |Kira Jenkins

When Neal Piper’s son, Noah, rang the bell at UVA Children’s Hospital in December 2020, it signaled the end of grueling chemotherapy treatments connected to beeping monitors and intravenous tubes. Five years later, Noah is a healthy third grader who will turn 9 in July, and the biotech business his dad launched, Luminoah, is also thriving.

1 week ago | vpm.org | Chris Suarez

A second service disruption to Richmond’s water utility this year has resurfaced questions about the recent cancellation of a $12 million FEMA grant intended to reinforce the city’s water treatment plant. While a spokesperson for the city’s Department of Public Utilities said the scope of the work described in a 2023 grant announcement had nothing to do with the problems this week, it’s unlikely to cool flaring tempers after repeated boil water advisories and potential rate increases for repairs.

1 week ago | vpm.org | Chris Suarez

After evacuating Afghanistan in 2021, Abdullah Zarify has made a life for himself in Richmond. He spends most of his time running his own market to support his wife and three children. He’s even made friends playing in a regional cricket league. Refugees like Zarify find comfort in the stability and security absent in their native lands. But the pain of leaving home endures. “I never wanted to come to the United States this way,” he said.

4 weeks ago | richmonder.org | Chris Suarez

Kirk Millikan runs these streets. All of them. Literally. Shortly before sunset last Tuesday, the Richmond native completed a six-year journey spanning nearly a thousand miles on all of the city’s 2,200 streets. “I figured a long-term motivating goal would be to run all the streets of Richmond. Back then, I didn't know that there would be a finish,” he said after reaching the milestone.

1 month ago | vpm.org | Chris Suarez

Seeking to block funding for public media, the US Department of Education has eliminated a federal grant that supports PBS Kids programming nationwide and has funded literacy initiatives sponsored by VPM Media Corporation at Richmond and Petersburg preschools. VPM President and CEO Jayme Swain announced the Ready to Learn grant’s termination on Monday.