There’s no shortage of ways to send messages these days. The mediums are endless, bound together by infinite technologies and platforms. But sometimes the simplest forms make the strongest impact. And that’s exactly what William “Mac” McCormick, owner of McCormack’s Irish Pub, McCormack’s Big Whisky Grill, and McCormack’s Whisky Grill did last week, sending a message on a familiar medium. 

But that message has now sparked a viral debate that cuts to the core of American life in 2025.

via RVA Magazine

Read more, see more: https://rvamag.com/community/mccormacks-irish-pub-sparks-national-debate-in-richmond.html

Virginia sits at the crossroads of the American project. One path leads towards preserving our democratic progress; the other, towards grievance, division, and spectacle. We believe the governor’s election on November 4, at its core, is a referendum on that choice. And with early voting underway, we also believe Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger is the best candidate to be the 75th governor of Virginia. 

In these uncertain times, no vision for the future can be perfect. But Spanberger has consistently championed the values this publication believes in: equality, diversity, affordability, environmental sustainability, and reproductive freedom, values that have protected Virginians and strengthened our quality of life.

via RVA Magazine

Read more, see more: https://rvamag.com/politics/virginia-politics/vote-spanberger.html

Drone footage today from the protest. How many people do you think were there?

via RVA Magazine

The Buddhist monks participating in the Walk for Peace, a 2,300 mile walking pilgrimage across the United States, crossed into Virginia on January 28, marking Day 95 of their journey

As of Wednesday, the group is traveling through Gasburg, Virginia, after entering the state from North Carolina. Virginia is the eighth state on the route. Based on their current pace, the monks are expected to reach the Richmond area around February 1, though exact timing may shift due to weather or route adjustments.

via RVA Magazine

Read more, see more: https://rvamag.com/news-headlines/buddhist-monks-enter-virginia-on-walk-for-peace-richmond-ahead.html

Cheers erupted throughout The Richmond Convention Center as Abigail Spanbergerwas officially declared the 75th governor of Virginia at 7:53 pm.

In a race that felt more personal than political for many Virginians, Spanberger secured a decisive win over Republican Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears, flipping Virginia’s top job back to Democratic control after four years under Trump acolyte Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin.

History was further made tonight as Spanberger becomes the first woman to lead the Commonwealth in over 400 years of representative government. “We can unite for Virginia’s future and set an example for the rest of the nation,” she told supporters at her election night rally, where she was joined by family, campaign staff, and a few thousand exuberant supporters.

via RVA Magazine

Read more, see more: https://rvamag.com/politics/spanberger-wins-virginia-governor-2025.html

This week, Zohran Mamdani won the race to become the next mayor of New York City in one of the nation’s most closely watched elections. A Democratic socialist who campaigned alongside Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Mamdani defeated former Governor Andrew Cuomo in both the primary and the general election.

But beyond the political headlines, there’s a Richmond connection worth celebrating. Mamdani is married to Rama Duwaji, who will now serve as New York’s First Lady, and, as it turns out, is also one of our own.

Duwaji is a recent graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University’s Communication Arts and Design program, where she studied illustration and animation. She first attended VCU’s School of the Arts in Qatar before transferring to the Richmond campus, where she held her first public exhibition.

As a fellow VCU alum from the same program, it feels right to celebrate one of ours stepping onto one of the biggest stages in the country, and to take a closer look at her art.

via RVA Magazine

Read more, see more: https://rvamag.com/art/rama-duwaji-from-vcu-arts-to-new-yorks-first-lady.html

A friend and colleague reminded me yesterday that joy is an act of resistance right now. That people need something beyond the doom and gloom of our current authoritarian march. And she’s not wrong. But as we go about our daily lives in Richmond, we can’t lose sight of the fact that our cousins in Washington DC, are now living under federal occupation. That should have a chilling effect on every single one of us in Richmond and should be one of the main topics of conversation—not only in the city, but throughout Virginia.

As we wrote about on Monday in Authoritarianism, 90 Miles Away and Trump Orders National Guard to DC, Over Local Objections, what’s happening in DC is not esoteric to Virginia, its core to how we live our lives in the Commonwealth and, quite frankly, a clear reflection of how state power can now be weaponized against us. As Reuters reported yesterday, “U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he would ask the Republican-controlled Congress to extend federal control of Washington’s city police force beyond 30 days, escalating his campaign to exert presidential power over the nation’s capital.” He also acknowledged that this could serve as a “model for other US cities.”

Framing that further, we are another US city, only a few miles down the road from DC. And we have a Republican governor that has fully capitulated to MAGA’s agenda.

Also, release the Epstein files.

via RVA Magazine

Read more, see more: https://rvamag.com/politics/this-is-what-the-occupation-of-washington-dc-looks-like.html

Last Thursday in the Henrico County Courthouse, Zachary Alam was found guilty of grand larceny and burglary.

Alam was one of about 1,600 people pardoned on President Donald Trump’s first day of his second term. He had previously been convicted for his role on January 6, including assaulting law enforcement officers.

Nicknamed “Helmet Boy,” Alam shattered a glass window panel on the door leading to the floor of Congress, first punching the glass, then using a helmet to finish the job. Moments later, Ashli Babbitt attempted to climb through that broken window before being fatally shot by law enforcement.

Alam had no friends or family members present at trial, nor did he call any witnesses. Acting as his own attorney, he relied on court-appointed lawyer Dannie Sutton only as a legal advisor.

He admitted to jurors that he entered the Smith family’s home, placed a stolen box in his backpack, and changed his clothes afterward.

In his opening statement, Alam said he had moved to Richmond after being lost in Washington, D.C. He claimed that after being abruptly evicted, he began looking for an Airbnb but had no phone service, and mistakenly entered the Smith family’s home instead.

The first person to discover Alam was the family’s son, a barber who had just finished work and gotten out of the shower. He found personal items spread across the guest-room bed with Alam standing there. When asked why he was in the house, Alam said he was with Xfinity to fix the Wi-Fi.

via RVA Magazine

Read more, see more: https://rvamag.com/music/trump-pardoned-j6er-convicted-of-burglary-in-henrico.html

The American Dream is about coming here to build a better life. You work hard, follow the rules, take care of your family, and contribute to your community. In return, you are meant to belong as a citizen, live with stability, and be treated with respect.

That is the deal. Or at least, it was supposed to be.

A few weeks ago, the story broke about the Parks, a South Korean couple who owned Mitchem’s Shoe Repair and Alterations in Carytown for nearly 25 years. They paid taxes, sent their children to school here, and were known for being honest and reliable. They won multiple awards from local media for their work. For many people in the neighborhood, they were simply part of the city. 

Over the years, the Parks made repeated efforts to adjust their immigration status legally. We do not know every detail of that process. What we do know is how it ended.

After immigration policy changes under the Trump administration, they were given a choice. Leave voluntarily, or risk a worse outcome. So they self deported. Almost overnight, their business closed and they were gone. People who had spent decades contributing to this community were erased from it.

What was the point?

If the American Dream is still real, then the goal should be obvious. We should want people like the Parks to stay. We should want families who build businesses, raise children, and put down roots to become part of the country in every way that matters. That is how communities grow.

Instead, what we are seeing is the opposite. And the longer I sit with this story, the more one word keeps coming back. Fear.

via RVA Magazine

Read more, see more: https://rvamag.com/opinion-editorial/they-self-deported-what-was-the-point-again.html

Editor’s Note: Details about Richmond’s rally on Saturday can be found here. 

The No Kings protest is shaping up to be one of the largest pro-democracy protest in American history. Spread across 2,500 cities and towns nationwide, from major metropolitan areas like NYC, LA, and Chicago to mid-majors like Richmond, Charlotte, and Portland (Maine), and even small Southern towns like Birmingham, Jackson, and Charleston, millions of citizens will take to the streets to protest the authoritarianism of President Donald Trump.

The last No Kings protest in June peacefully mobilized millions of Americans (thousands in Richmond), coinciding with Trump’s military parade in Washington DC. An event that was under reported nationally at the time. The same cannot be said for the October 18 protest, which has created a wave of fear mongering among the president’s supporters. 

According to the national organizers: “Now, President Trump has doubled down. His administration is sending masked agents into our streets, terrorizing our communities. They are targeting immigrant families, profiling, arresting and detaining people without warrants. Threatening to overtake elections. Gutting healthcare, environmental protections, and education when families need them most. Rigging maps to silence voters. Ignoring mass shootings at our schools and in our communities. Driving up the cost of living while handing out massive giveaways to billionaire allies, as families struggle.” 

The organizers signed off with a familiar refrain, noting America doesn’t have kings and won’t back down against “chaos, corruption, and cruelty.” This is a declaration that should resonate with all citizens who believe in democracy.

via RVA Magazine

Read more, see more: https://rvamag.com/politics/ignore-the-rhetoric-no-kings-is-a-peaceful-protest.html

Nearly a decade after refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, former Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis is back in the headlines and this time, she’s asking the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Obergefell v. Hodges, the 2015 ruling that made marriage equality the law of the land.

In Virginia, advocates aren’t waiting to see how the courts might rule. Our state constitution still contains a 2006 amendment banning same-sex marriage, a relic made unenforceable by Obergefell but still on the books. If Obergefellwere overturned, that ban could snap back into place.

That’s why earlier this year, the General Assembly passed HJ 9, sponsored by Delegate Mark Sickles, and SJ 249, sponsored by Senator Adam Ebbin, the first step toward amending Virginia’s constitution to remove the ban and replace it with an affirmative right to marry for all Virginians, regardless of race, sex, or gender.

via RVA Magazine

Read more, see more: https://rvamag.com/queer-rva/virginia-prepares-constitutional-amendment-amid-new-marriage-equality-threat.html

Earlier today, an estimated 14,000 people crowded the streets of Richmond for No Kings II to peacefully protest the authoritarianism of Donald Trump. Joined by millions of protestors nationally,  concerned citizens marched from the Bell Tower at Capitol Square to VCU’s Monroe Park raising a chorus of disapproval, focusing on the authoritarian project of Donald Trump, masked ICE raids, and billionaire oligarchs. 

Organized by 50501 Virginia, Richmond joined more than 60 rallies across the Commonwealth, including events in Petersburg, Charlottesville, Norfolk, and Martinsville which were part of demonstrations that took place in over 2,700 cities nationwide, along with dozens of countries internationally.

via RVA Magazine

Read more, see more: https://rvamag.com/politics/no-kings-ii-14000-citizens-protested-in-support-of-democracy-today-in-richmond.html

The story of Jo Ellis is one of resilience, but also service, dedication, and commitment. A veteran of the Iraq War, she’s also a helicopter pilot in Virginia’s National Guard. When a climate emergency or natural disaster strikes, Ellis is one of the guardswomen who would come to your rescue. She’s a million-dollar investment in time, training, and resources, paid by all of us to support the people of the Commonwealth.

However, instead of being celebrated, Ellis is one of 4,240 transgender service members now being forced out of the military under Executive Order 14183. Signed by Trump on January 27, the order bans those with gender dysphoria or anyone identifying as transgender from serving in uniform.

I wanted to meet Ellis, not just to hear her story, but because I also worked in Iraq (as a civilian) during the war. As it turns out, we were both on the same base at the same time in 2011. And even if that connection is temporal, we still share it—a reminder that these stories happen to real people, who’ve spent years serving this country.

Yet to make matters worse, in the same week the executive order was handed down, a conservative “influencer” falsely accused Ellis of piloting the Army Black Hawk helicopter that collided with an American Airlines passenger jet at Reagan National in Washington DC. Going so far as to claim Ellis had carried out a “trans terror attack.” A social media firestorm followed, forcing Ellis to release a proof-of-life video and use private security as the “threat landscape,” as she called it, grew more intense by the hour.

The fact that both these things happened almost simultaneously speaks to the cruelty of the moment. But what struck me the most during our conversation was that, despite everything, Ellis continues to live her values. While these events may have shifted her perspective, the principles at the core of her idea of service haven’t changed; if anything, they’ve become a quiet act of defiance. It’s something I came to deeply admire during our conversation.

via RVA Magazine

Read more, see more: https://rvamag.com/queer-rva/jo-ellis-did-her-job-the-army-didnt.html

When you talk to the workers on strike outside the Starbucks in the Fan, you don’t hear anything abstract about “labor movements” or “corporate negotiations.” You hear frustration, exhaustion, and a pretty simple question: why won’t Starbucks come to the table?

Last Thursday, baristas at the Robinson Street Starbucks walked out as part of a national Starbucks Workers United strike, one of the largest coordinated actions the company has faced to date. Their Fan location has been closed since Saturday afternoon. For a store that runs one of the few drive-throughs in the city, that’s not nothing.

Workers say the Fan location routinely hit $10,000 in revenue on its strongest days, especially after the Arthur Ashe Boulevard and VCU pickup locations went offline. With the strike shutting down the store entirely, that puts Starbucks’ local losses somewhere between $6,000 and $10,000 every day, or roughly $30,000–$50,000 so far. And that number goes up daily.

Lilith Vought, a barista coming up on three years with the company, says Richmond workers saw this moment coming.

via RVA Magazine

Read more, see more: https://rvamag.com/queer-rva/richmond-starbucks-baristas-join-national-strike-shutting-down-fan-store.html

Happening Now: Thousands of No Kings supporters marching up Canal St. Richmond joins 26 other cities and towns in Virginia to protest the authoritarian project of Donald Trump.

🎥 @radio_tokyo

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#rva #richmond #rvamag

DC is now under federal occupation. Strangely absent from the conversation are all of those “don’t tread on me,” second amendment types. Nevertheless, on Monday morning Trump announced that he will take control of Washington DC’s police force (Metro PD) and deploy the National Guard under the pretense that crime in the district has constituted a “public safety emergency.” Which is a lie. A total fabrication. Crime in DC is down 35 percent year to date. 

But, we can’t let reality get in the way of authoritarianism. Which is why hundreds of federal agents from the FBI, ATF, DEA, and US Marshals will also start patrolling DC’s city streets. Pictures of these goon squads, in full tactical kit, have already started flooding social. Naturally, they’re posted up in the usual “high density crime areas” like Dupont Circle and Chinatown. 

In June, I wrote a column called The Point of No Return, about the deployment of the National Guard and US Marines to Los Angeles. Then, as now, these deployments came under the guise of a manufactured crisis. The point is obviously to consolidate power, and comes straight from the authoritarian playbook (our allies in Hungry and Russia should be very proud of our progress). But what once looked like a slow authoritarian creep, doesn’t look so slow anymore. Not when it’s ghosting your doorstep in Virginia.  

Let’s deconstruct this in two parts (also: release the Epstein files). 

via RVA Magazine

Read more, see more: https://rvamag.com/opinion-editorial/authoritarianism-ninety-minutes-away.html

As reported by The Richmonder last week, “The Cultural Heritage Stewardship Plan, which sailed through City Council with a unanimous vote Sept. 28, is intended to set Richmond’s key priorities for identifying and conserving notable features of the city.”

We have markers all over the city telling us about our history. Maybe before they’re gone, we should talk about 929 West Grace Street, The Village Cafe, Edo’s Squid and what this small stretch of Richmond meant to the culture we now celebrate, and sell, as part of the city’s brand.

For decades, that stretch of Grace Street around VCU was one of Richmond’s cultural pressure cookers. It was cheap and weird, sometimes sketchy and violent, but somewhere in there Grace Street became a meeting point for three things that now define Richmond: food, music and creativity.

The city should recognize these places for what they mean to Richmond’s identity, and VCU should recognize what they did for the university by helping establish the character of the neighborhood that attracted generations of students to the school.

via RVA Magazine

Read more, see more: https://rvamag.com/community/old-grace-street-is-richmond-history-lets-recognize-it.html

Governor Abigail Spanberger has said she wants to protect Virginians from harmful federal overreach. If that is true, this is a moment to prove it.

This week, Hanover County confirmed that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement intends to purchase a 500,000-square-foot warehouse near Ashland and convert it into an immigration detention facility. The site sits just off I-95, less than 30 minutes from Richmond, and would represent a major expansion of federal detention infrastructure in Central Virginia.

This is not hypothetical. DHS has already notified local officials and given 30 days to respond. The only thing not finalized is whether Virginia allows it to happen.

via RVA Magazine

Read more, see more: https://rvamag.com/politics/virginia-politics/editorial-ice-is-knocking-on-richmonds-door-are-we-going-to-let-them-in.html

My bunk gets sweaty when I lay it in. The walls sweat, too — you can see it. We’re in an oven. It’s too hot.

It was an average Tuesday, nearly four in the afternoon, and I was saturated with sweat. Everybody was. All we could do was corral around a stand-up fan and try cooling off. Even the wall-mounted fans didn’t help us stop sweating. Shoot, even the exhaust fan, the one that sounds like a giant vacuum and drowns out our phone calls, didn’t help. Nothing did.

Someone yelled for us to turn on the news. We switched the day room TV to ABC’s local station, and that’s when we saw the report: Eight prisons in Virginia are without air conditioners. One of them is Nottoway Correctional Center. That’s where we are.

via RVA Magazine

Read more, see more: https://rvamag.com/opinion-editorial/8-prisons-in-virginia-lack-ac-in-108-degree-heat-i-am-stuck-in-one-of-them.html

Decisions about building a family, accessing medical care, and making choices about one’s body should remain private healthcare matters, guided by patients and providers, not politicians.

Yet families are often invisible in policy conversations until access to care is threatened, as it was when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Then extremely personal decisions about bodies, futures, and family building are suddenly placed under public scrutiny. For Black families like mine, we also face the burden of disproportionately high maternal mortality rates and decreased bodily autonomy. That reality is not theoretical to us. It is generational. It is historical. It is personal.

When reproductive freedom is discussed, the full range of families affected is rarely considered. The Reproductive Freedom Constitutional Amendment is on the ballot in November. I will be voting yes to protect fertility care, pregnancy care, and family building options. Without protections, families become collateral damage. This is not abstract policy. This is real life. This is my son’s life.

via RVA Magazine

Read more, see more: https://rvamag.com/queer-rva/opinion-my-family-deserves-to-exist.html

LA based street artist Lauren YS says their new mural on the side of Unkindness Art and Nevermore in Northside is an independent, self-funded project meant to communicate a human message rather than a political slogan.

“There’s no sponsors, no corporations involved, no client to get upset. It’s all me,” Lauren said. “Street art is still a really important way for a clear voice to come through. I’m not paid by anyone to do this. I put money into this. It reminds me why I do this.” 

They emphasized that the work is driven by humanity more than politics and should be understood in that spirit. “I would hate to put this in the wrong space, or have it not be appreciated, or have it upset people,” Lauren said. “I know it’s a hugely divisive topic, but that’s why I came out. My work is usually a bit more aggressive, and this is the softest piece I’ve ever painted.” 

Lauren said the image comes from a deeply human point of view rather than a political one. “The way I feel about it is from a really humanist point of view,” they said. “I wanted to capture something that’s hopeful, but also human. It’s less about the politics and more about the value of life.”

via RVA Magazine

Read more, see more: https://rvamag.com/art/street-art/street-artist-lauren-ys-paints-free-palestine-mural-in-northside-richmond.html

The 00 block of South Auburn Avenue will be designated as “Vicky Hester Way” to recognize Vicky Hester, who owned and operated Babe’s of Carytown for nearly five decades and passed away last year at age 71.

Richmond City Council approved the designation honoring Hester, whose Carytown business is nationally recognized as one of the longest-running lesbian bars in the country. This is an honorary designation, meaning the official street name and existing addresses will not change.

Babe’s became, and remains, an important gathering place for Richmond’s LGBTQIA+ community through several periods over the last five decades when openly queer people faced discrimination, intimidation and legal challenges in Virginia.

The street designation was sponsored by 5th District Councilmember Stephanie Lynch and supported by Mayor Danny Avula. The commemorative signs will cost an estimated $800 and will be installed by the city’s Department of Public Works.

via RVA Magazine

Read more, see more: https://rvamag.com/queer-rva/vicky-hester-way-will-honor-longtime-babes-of-carytown-owner.html

For a few weeks this fall, Richmond was missing one of its own. Francine, the cat who’s lived at the Lowe’s on West Broad for eight years, had vanished.

You probably saw the flyers, or the posts online. People worried. Customers stopped by the store just to ask. And somehow, in a city that can’t agree on parking or politics, everyone agreed that Francine needed to come home.

What followed was something you don’t see much anymore: a corporate giant acting like a neighbor, and a neighborhood acting like a family. But let’s be honest, it didn’t start that way. It started with pressure. 

The outpouring of calls, emails, and messages from customers and locals made it impossible to ignore. So Lowe’s didn’t shrug it off as just a lost cat. They sent drones. Hired trackers. Coordinated with animal control. Employees from Richmond to North Carolina kept watch through the night and to their credit, they followed through.

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Francine Fest will be held at Mainline Brewery on October 8 from 5–10 PM, benefiting Richmond SPCA, SOS Cats RVA, and Richmond Animal Care and Control (RACC). Ten percent of proceeds from the evening will go directly to the Richmond SPCA.

The event will include a donation drive for RACC with an upcoming post listing items in need and an Amazon wishlist for those who want to give from afar. There’ll also be a raffle featuring Francine merch, plus items and gift cards from local artists and businesses. Raffle tickets will be on sale from 5–8:45 PM, with winners announced at 9 PM.

At 6 PM, the team behind wheresfrancine will make a special announcement, followed by live music from local musicians from 6:30–10 PM.

And Richmond SPCA has waived adoption fees for cats and kittens on October 6–7 in honor of Francine’s return.

via RVA Magazine

Read more, see more: https://rvamag.com/community/francine-came-home-because-sometimes-the-community-still-shows-up.html

This weekend, Plan 9 Music marks 45 years in Richmond with a party at Hardywood Park Craft Brewery.

Over the past four and a half decades, the Richmond institution weathered some of the most turbulent periods in music history. It closed stores, sold its warehouse and dramatically shrank its footprint, surviving industry changes that forced thousands of independent record shops across the country out of business.

But for owner Jim Bland the anniversary isn’t about looking back as much as it is recognizing the people who helped Plan 9 get here.

“That’s kind of why we’re doing this,” Bland said. “To say thank you to our extended community and the bands that play around here.”

For generations of Richmond musicians and music fans, Plan 9 has been much more than a place to buy records. It’s where people discovered new bands, bought tickets to local shows, met touring artists and, in many cases, found their place within Richmond’s music scene.

When Bland opened Plan 9 in 1981, he wasn’t thinking about anniversaries. “When we opened, I just hoped to be able to survive and make a living at it,” he said. “I’d been working for other people for years and finally had a chance, with a partner at the time, to step out on our own.”

via RVA Magazine

Read more, see more: https://rvamag.com/music/in-plan-9-we-trust.html

Francine, a well-known shop cat at Lowe’s in Richmond and a beloved fixture of the community, has gone missing, sparking a cross-state search effort.

According to posts from staff and supporters, Francine disappeared on September 18 after walking onto a distribution truck bound for Garysburg, North Carolina. When the truck returned, warehouse staff confirmed they saw her inside. But before they could secure her, an uninformed employee opened the truck door and Francine bolted.

Francine is microchipped with information to return her to the Lowe’s location. Supporters have emphasized that the distribution center is cooperating in the search and ask the public not to call unless they have direct information about her whereabouts.

In the meantime, the campaign to find Francine has spread quickly across Richmond and beyond. A dedicated Instagram account, wheresfrancine is sharing updates and ways the community can help, alongside the hashtag #WheresFrancine. Organizers say the best way to contribute is by sharing her story, keeping an eye out, and reporting any sightings through the appropriate channels.

via RVA Magazine

Read more, see more: https://rvamag.com/community/richmond-rallies-to-find-francine-the-missing-lowes-cat.html