Chris Suarez

1 week ago | richmondmagazine.com | Chris Suarez

With Richmond City Hall facing pushback against the planned segment of a regional trail crossing through Bryan Park, officials have dismissed alternate routes that would have removed even more trees and driven project costs up by at least $1 million. Three weeks after a contentious community meeting, Department of Public Works Deputy Director Dironna Moore Clarke says officials are finalizing permits for the original route design in the North Side park.

3 weeks ago | richmondmagazine.com | Chris Suarez

This article has been updated since it first appeared in print. Thanks to the rollback of federal grants and services, Richmond has lost a previously announced $12 million Federal Emergency Management Agency grant to improve the city’s beleaguered water treatment plant. If nothing changes, the city will pass the costs down to the 67,000 homes and businesses it serves throughout the region, causing monthly bills to go up $8 on average.

3 weeks 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.

4 weeks 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 month 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.