The cause of the fire has not been determined.

Rodney's cousin, Jourdon Petticolas, described him as a dedicated worker who often juggled multiple jobs at once.

"From the time we open to lunchtime, he's working on three or four cars at once," Petticolas said. "He's a hard worker. He's a good person. He's he's an amazing person, honestly."

Jessica White, a former classmate and current customer, described the emotional toll the fire took on Rodney.

"His whole world changed, so everybody was worried, you know, everybody had vehicles on the lot, but just to see him so humbly sorry that he can't fix it all ... 30 minutes ago he was looking at the ground with tears just dropping down," White said.

White added she hopes the community will come together to help Rodney get back on his feet.

According to the Virginia Department of Social Services, more than 100,000 fewer Virginians are receiving SNAP benefits than they were a year ago a decline that came one year after Congress approved major changes to the program.

Aaron McClung, FeedMore's chief development and health strategy officer, said Central Virginia has been hit especially hard.

"Chesterfield's about a decrease in about 15% of folks that are on SNAP. Hanover almost 13%, Henrico almost over 18%, and Richmond close to 14%," McClung said.

FeedMore, a Richmond-area nonprofit, is working to make sure families have food to put on their plates as demand for charitable food programs increases.

"We saw a 14.4% decline from July of last year to June of this past year," McClung said.

Food bank leaders say the decline is forcing some households that rely on those benefits to make difficult decisions, driving up demand for charitable food programs and donations.

McClung said children are among those most at risk.

"With SNAP, a lot of kids are beneficiaries of this program, and if they're not able to access that food, school's out, so there's a lot of concern on our part about the most vulnerable in our community," McClung said.

Advocates say stricter eligibility requirements and confusion surrounding recent policy changes may be contributing to the drop in enrollment. Virginia lawmakers have taken steps to allocate more money toward SNAP in the state budget, covering costs previously paid by the federal government.

McClung said the pressure on families is only expected to grow.

"People are stretched today, but putting additional pressures on those that just can't make ends meet today. We know it's going to be more pronounced in the future," McClung said.

FeedMore is encouraging families to review their eligibility for SNAP and other nutrition programs, including SUN Bucks and free or reduced-price school meal programs.

Governor Spanberger has said she plans to organize roundtable discussions with community groups to help bridge the gap and find ways to help those impacted.

Tuesday marked the panel's first meeting under Governor Abigail Spanberger's administration and was chaired by State Health Commissioner Dr. Cameron Webb and the state's Medicaid agency director Steve Ford.

The body was created last year through an executive order issued by former Governor Glenn Youngkin, partly in response to CBS 6's reporting on mounting concerns from families about the quality of care in nursing homes.

Watch: Governor, top health officials take action following CBS 6 investigations into nursing home oversight

The board had previously met three times and issued a report, which Gov. Spanberger's Secretary of Health and Human Resources Marvin Figueroa said "identified important issues" but did "not solve the problem."

This work will require us to have difficult conversations, to be honest about where the system is falling short, and to hold ourselves accountable for moving in a better direction," Figueroa said.

Janet Payne, whose mother died from a fall in a nursing home, attended the meeting as a concerned member of the public. While she's optimistic about the panel, she said there were many top priority issues that weren't addressed.

During the meeting, the Virginia Department of Health's (VDH) licensing director April Dovel presented her office's plan to catch up on late inspections, which are supposed to occur at least once every 16 months to ensure resident protection. For years, VDH has struggled to complete timely inspections as the agency faced a shortage of inspectors. The oversight failures were the subject of previous CBS 6 investigations.

Dovel said while Virginia was not unique in taking a staffing hit after the COVID-19 pandemic, other states were able to mitigate the impacts of inspector shortages through internal process changes.

To date, federal data shows Virginia remains the second worst state in the country for the amount of overdue nursing home inspections, even a year after an executive order directed VDH to hire more inspectors and be more efficient.

Federal data shows the national average for overdue nursing home inspections is 13%. By comparison, Dovel said 58% of Virginia nursing homes are currently overdue down from 68% this time last year.

Dovel said her office has been making progress since she became director in November, when the backlog was even greater.

"We have a 20% reduction in the backlog that our new leadership team inherited at the beginning of November. So that's really exciting that we've made some headway. It's still an uphill climb. I don't want to discount that there's a lot of work still left to be done," Dovel said.

She said one barrier to getting the work done is that VDH continues to get flooded with nursing home complaints from the public, which extends the amount of time required to complete inspections.

Data showed the complaints frequently allege issues with patient neglect, medication management, staffing, and people being left soiled. VDH has received 1,046 nursing home complaints so far this year. That figure surpasses last year's July numbers, which were already skyrocketing back then.

It's very high volume, and that is work that directly impacts our staffing, our survey scheduling, our investigative capacity, and our ability to quickly respond when a resident may be at risk," Dovel said.

Do you think there's a correlation between an increase in complaints and declining quality of care? reporter Tyler Layne asked.

It's certainly possible. I mean, we have not been on site for some of these facilities in years," Dovel said. "I think if the public recognizes that we're putting our best foot forward, we have a good plan in place to move forward with these recertifications and getting that backlog under control, my hypothesis is that the complaint volume will decrease."

VDH's prior deadline for getting through the inspection backlog was January 1, 2027. The agency is now giving itself another year, to December 31, 2027, to get through the backlog.

To achieve that goal, Dovel said her office will continue with hiring and retention efforts, revamp its scheduling practices, and dedicate new personnel solely to investigating complaints.

VDH is also looking to take more ownership in its enforcement role. While VDH has long had the authority to take some licensing actions against poor performing nursing homes, Dovel said the agency historically deferred to federal regulators to "do our dirty work" when it came to imposing penalties.

The agency has now developed a new proposal that will lay out clear guidance for when VDH should restrict or prohibit admissions at a nursing home and suspend or revoke a nursing home's license.

"We need to be doing more from an accountability measure and making sure that we are taking appropriate action at the state level and not waiting for the federal partner to take any type of accountability against a provider that is not providing good quality care," Dovel said.

For Dovel, meeting these goals is personal.

She explained the reason she took the job in the first place was because of a concerning experience her grandmother had in a nursing home.

I just remember thinking when I left that facility that if I ever found myself to be in a position where I could be in some type of licensing capacity for those communities, that I would want to do it to change the system and to hopefully impact the system in some better way," she said.

Officials from the state's Medicaid agency, the Department of Medical Assistance Services (DMAS), presented an array of data to the panel concerning ownership.

Tammy Whitlock, DMAS' Deputy Director for Complex Care Services, said 81% of Virginia nursing homes are for-profit organizations. The share of for-profit ownership has grown slightly from last year, when data presented to the board by the Long-Term Care Ombudsman showed 75% of the state's facilities were for-profit.

According to DMAS' data, 61% of Virginia nursing homes are owned by ten chains. For five of those chains, more than half of their facilities are rated either below average or much below average.

For one chain, 100% of its facilities have low ratings. For another chain, 94% of its facilities have low ratings.

DMAS' data showed nearly half of residents insured through the Medicaid program are concentrated in low-performing nursing homes.

That's a data point that we can't ignore, and that's something we have to look into and ask the question why," DMAS Director Steve Ford said.

Ford said "substantial taxpayer dollars" are used to subsidize care for the 19,000+ Medicaid members who live in nursing homes.

Officials said they have taken steps to ensure that money is spent on good quality care, such as implementing a program that gives extra money to facilities who meet certain performance measures. One new change to that program is excluding Virginia's six worst-performing nursing homes from eligibility. The change followed a CBS 6 investigation that found DMAS had been awarding quality-based bonus money to facilities flagged for a history of serious quality issues.

Watch: Virginia Medicaid will stop giving quality-based bonus payments to the state's worst-performing nursing homes

But they said more work needs to be done.

"We do need to, at some point, tie reimbursement to quality, and I don't know how we do that. We're doing some investigation on that and some research but just wanted to put that out there that that is a goal," Whitlock said.

Janet Payne brought her mother's story to the board's attention during public comment, showing pictures of her mother badly bruised due to falls.

She said her mother fell 30 times in three years at the local long-term care facility where she was a resident. According to her mom's death certificate, she died in 2024 of "blunt force trauma to the head" due to a "ground level fall" at the nursing home.

When I saw her like that, it breaks my heart. And I still live in guilt today. But it was me, myself and I taking care of her, and it wasn't that I didn't fight for her. I tried, but nothing did any good," Payne said.

The tragedy launched her into advocacy, where she now pushes for stronger resident protections as part of the group "Justice and Change for Victims of Nursing Facilities."

I feel Virginia has a lot of things to correct, a lot of things that have been ignored for many years, and that's why we're losing a lot of people in nursing homes," she said.

Her message to the board: "Talk to the families. Papers, complaints they don't tell you the real story. Families do."

She said there were some topics important to patient advocates that the board did not address during Tuesday's meeting. In future meetings, she'd like to see proposals to mandate minimum staffing standards and address the industry's political influence on lawmakers.

"How can they change the laws or try to make laws that work if they're taking money from the nursing homes?" she said.

Another public commenter, Kay Carithers, who said she was a registered nurse in Virginia, called on the board to "get corporate money out of political campaigns."

Her other recommendations included improving staffing levels, paying nurses more, and increasing Medicaid reimbursement rates.

Board members spent some time discussing general ideas among themselves. Areas of concern some members identified included funding for the Long-term Care Ombudsman's Office and the changing acuity landscape across the industry.

Industry executive Brad Dalton, the chief operating officer of American Healthcare LLC, called on the panel to focus its work on the system at large as opposed to singular incidents.

Unfortunately, in our business, negative occurrences and isolated events are going to happen, and we want to make sure they don't happen again," Dalton said.

State Health Commissioner Dr. Cameron Webb said the next meetings are set for September and November. He mentioned the board will also help provide input for a report on nursing home quality due at the end of the year.

Chesterfield Police officers and Fire and EMS crews responded to the 13300 block of Bradley Bridge Road just before 6 p.m. Sunday for a reported water rescue, according to Chesterfield Police.

The child went into the pond and began to struggle in the water, investigators said. His mother then entered the pond to try to save him, but also became submerged.

EMS personnel began lifesaving efforts immediately after both were recovered from the water, but both were pronounced dead at the scene.

The GoFundMe, created to help cover funeral and repatriation expenses, says Lpez Sols leaves behind five children and her life partner. The fundraiser says the family is seeking to bring both Lpez Sols and Jonathan home to Guatemala. Click here to view the fundraiser.

The investigation into what happened remains ongoing.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call Chesterfield County Police at 804-748-1251 or Crime Solvers at 804-748-0660 or through the P3 app.

The road was back open and the scene clear as of 8:50 p.m.

Between 2015 and 2024, there were 42 reported crashes involving farm equipment in Virginia, resulting in 19 fatalities.

The Doyle family of Greensville County understands that danger better than most. Two members of the same family have been struck by distracted drivers on the same stretch of Route 58 years apart.

Payton Doyle has been farming for more than 20 years.

"Plant, spray, harvest, do it all," Payton said.

Moving equipment between fields means regularly driving tractors, sprayers, and other large machinery on public roads. Payton said the ask to other drivers is simple.

"That's all it takes, just give me a little bit of time and I'll be out your way," Payton said.

About 20 years ago, Payton's older brother was driving a sprayer on Route 58 when he was rear-ended by a tractor-trailer on a straight stretch of road.

"Our first accident, with my older son, it was a mile straight stretch," said Joey Doyle, Payton's father.

Then, two years ago, history repeated itself on the same road.

"All of a sudden, wham, truck just ran into the back of me. Straight stretch of road. I was as far to the right as I could get," Payton said.

Investigators estimated the truck that hit Payton was traveling 65 mph. Payton walked away with two cracked vertebrae and was left "just banged up" with "scratches and bruises."

Joey said the accidents have given him a perspective no parent wants.

"We can replace all of that. We can't replace our kids," Joey said.

In response, a handful of share-the-road signs have been posted across Greensville County, reminding drivers to watch for farm equipment.

"It's been a pretty good eyeopener for a lot of people. We've had a lot of good comments," Joey said.

Joey said farm equipment on public roads is simply a reality of modern agriculture.

"We have to transport equipment, commodities, you name it. We have to be on the road a lot," Joey said.

He asked drivers to pay closer attention when they see farm equipment ahead.

"Pay attention to what's going on. Maybe slow down when they see farm equipment, see that slow moving vehicle emblem, see the flashing lights," Joey said.

Since his accident, Payton's replacement sprayer came equipped with a rear-facing camera so he can monitor traffic approaching from behind.

"This is my screen in the tractor and I've got a rear camera on the back so I can look at the traffic coming from behind me," Payton said.

The Doyle family hopes the share-the-road signs will eventually be posted along roads in all 100 Virginia counties. Payton said the goal is straightforward.

"If the signs save one life, we've done our job," Payton said.

His message to drivers is equally simple.

"All we want is people to be patient, slow down and move over," Payton said.

Lorenzo Parker, who was displaced from the fire along with his mother Barbara Threatts, said he and his mother have finally found stable housing in Chesterfield County after weeks of uncertainty.

"By the grace of God, we made it here. And by the grace of God, we're going to continue to make it," Parker said.

But even as he settles into his new home, Parker said his thoughts remain with former neighbors who are still searching.

"Imagine being in your 70s or plus, having to move three times and still not being stable," Parker said.

CBS 6 first spoke with Parker and his mother earlier this month after they were displaced from the Darby House fire and eventually moved to Extended Stay South in Henrico, which they described as unsanitary conditions.

An anonymous $50,000 donation to the United Way temporarily extended funding for extended stay hotel rooms through Friday, easing fears that Darby House's parent company, Homes for America, would no longer cover the cost. But as July 31 approaches, many displaced residents remain without a permanent home.

Parker said the financial reality facing many of his former neighbors is daunting.

"Everybody can't just jump out there on a limb and pay an extra $200 or $300," Parker said.

Carol Chivaro, who is still searching for affordable housing following the fire, said the situation has worn on her.

"I just wish it were over and I could find an apartment that I can afford," Chivaro said.

Another displaced resident, who chose not to be identified, said the available options are simply out of reach for many seniors living on fixed incomes.

"The units, like I said, they are high, they are expensive," the resident said. "It's not catering to what these people were paying."

Parker said the affordability gap is a serious concern for those on government assistance or retirement income.

"Even if they relocate, how are they going to make it financially?" Parker said.

CBS 6 reached out to Homes for America and Housing Opportunities Unlimited with the following questions: How many displaced seniors are still in need of permanent housing? What options are available for those still displaced after July 31? And why Homes for America cannot continue or assist with funding rooms for those in need beyond July?

A representative with Housing Opportunities Unlimited declined to comment by phone, saying the organization would release a statement. As of publication, no statement has been received. Homes for America has not responded to requests for comment.

Parker said he is speaking out because he does not want anyone to be forgotten.

"I don't want anybody left behind. I want everybody to have an end story similar to me and my mom," Parker said.

His mother's comfort remains his priority as he looks ahead.

"Once she's comfortable, I'm good with that. I can just move on and keep on going," Parker said.

The parade will step off on Saturday, Dec. 5, at the intersection of 10th and Marshall streets.

The procession will pass the Children's Tower and Pavilion before turning right onto Broad Street and continuing west, through downtown to Allen Avenue.

Organizers established the new route after the success of 2025's route, which brought the parade past CHoR for the first time.

"Last year, we witnessed firsthand the incredible impact that bringing the parade to CHoR had on patients, families, caregivers, and our entire community," said Parade Director Tara Daudani. "The response was so meaningful that we knew we wanted to make the hospital an even more integral part of the parade. Beginning the parade at CHoR allows us to ensure every participantfrom marching bands and floats to balloons and Legendary Santashares the magic of the season with these remarkable children before continuing through the heart of Richmond."

CHoR President Elias Neujahr said the parade's visit past the hospital "created unforgettable memories for our patients and families" last year.

"Having the 2026 parade begin at CHoR is an extraordinary gift that reinforces how deeply this community cares for the children we serve." Neujahr said. "We are grateful to Richmond Parade, Inc. and all of its partners for continuing to make our patients and team members part of this wonderful winter tradition."

The 2026 route will also feature the new ColonialWebb Fan Zone, a free area with activities and food vendors, near 8th and Broad streets.

The festivities begin at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 5. CBS 6 will broadcast the parade live for viewers who want to watch from home.

The report, obtained by CBS 6 through a Freedom of Information Act request, said the fireworks were not maintained in the correct position during operation. The incident occurred July 23.

Watch: Video shows Flying Squirrels post-game fireworks malfunction

That improper installation caused the fireworks, called roman candles, to shoot across the field and towards a crowd of people in the stands. One went into the dugout.

"The investigation determined that the 40 mm Roman candles had been installed / loaded upside down, contributing to the unsafe firing condition," the report said.

Investigators said the incident presented a "significant life safety hazard" that created the "potential for serious injury" to fans and staff. A Flying Squirrels spokesperson said no one was hurt in the incident.

According to the report, an order was given to the pyrotechnic operator to immediately stop the show.

Fire officials also cited concerns about the transportation of firework materials without the required hazardous materials warnings.

Chesterfield Fire crews arrived to find smoke coming from the windows and a fire burning downstairs. They brought the blaze under control within 20 minutes, but the damage was already done. No injuries were reported.

What remained after the fire was charred toys wrapped in plastic bags, broken bed frames, burnt baby cradles, and a home with its walls torn down.

The fire marshal's office is still investigating the cause of the fire.

Neighbor Cederic Frazier said he did not know anything was wrong until he heard the commotion.

"We ain't know nothing was going on until we heard a whole bunch of knocking, a whole bunch of screaming," Frazier said.

Frazier described the displaced mother as someone who looked out for those around her.

"She helped me get in the house when I was locked out because my phone was dead," Frazier said.

He said the family's character made the loss hit harder.

"They seem to be very, very good people. You know, neighborhood isn't a good place. You don't always see good people here, but those are very good people. All right, that's all I'ma say. So yeah, I pray for them. I definitely think about them," Frazier said.

The family is now in need of new clothes, back-to-school supplies, furniture, and basic necessities to start over. A GoFundMe has been created to help them during this time.

According to Virginia State Police, the crash near Hermitage Road (mile marker 78.6) involved a tractor-trailer hauling vehicles, a work van, and two passenger vehicles. Two people were injured, and one was transported for medical treatment.

The crash closed two lanes of the interstate, according to officials with the Virginia Department of Transportation. The incident is under investigation.

HENRICO COUNTY, Va. Henrico Police detectives are asking the public for help solving the murder of 16-year-old Dazel Tremaine Smith Jr., shot and killed near his apartment two months ago.

Officers were called to the area near Balmoral Avenue and Fernwood Street around 10:40 p.m. on May 30 for a report of shots fired. When they arrived, they found Smith suffering from a gunshot wound. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Crime Insider sources said he was shot in the chest.

The location is off Staples Mill Road, not far from the Amtrak station.

Smith was just a few weeks away from starting his senior year at J.R. Tucker High School in Henrico's West End. He was an only child. Family members said he was a leader who lived his 16 years to the fullest.

He also worked at a McDonald's on Staples Mill Road, within walking distance of the apartment he shared with his mother. His manager, Michelle Menzer, said his work ethic was unmatched and that he was known for always wearing a smile and having a positive attitude.

"He was really a good kid at the job. Anything we asked him to do, that boy did anything," Menzer said. "It's been really disheartening for the job, and a lot of people that work there. Some don't work there no more. It was just a lot, you know?"

Smith's mother told CBS 6 off camera that the grief is unbearable, that his loss is the worst pain she has ever dealt with, and that she shudders to think about the months and years of grieving she has ahead.

His colleagues are hoping an arrest will bring some relief.

"I hope he gets justice. That's my biggest thing. He deserves justice, his family deserves justice," Menzer said.

Henrico Schools identified Smith as a Tucker High student after his death.

"Our hearts are with the student's family and the entire Tucker High School community as they grieve the loss of a loved one, friend and classmate. Although the school year has ended, school counselors are available to provide support and resources for students coping with this tragedy. Families may contact the school counseling office to make an appointment," a Henrico Schools spokesperson said.

Detectives have not released details about the circumstances surrounding the shooting or any suspect information.

"No matter how small or insignificant the tip may seem, it could be the information needed to solve this case," Henrico Police spokesperson Will McCue said.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Det. K. Herbst at (804) 501-4831. Tips can also be submitted anonymously through Crime Stoppers at (804) 780-1000 or at P3tips.com.

A call came in around 11:30 a.m. reporting a possible explosion at Bee Green Recycling. The caller advised that a dumpster attached to a tractor-trailer near the warehouse was on fire.

Firefighters arrived to find no fire inside the warehouse, only smoke.

Crews ventilated the building and suppressed the dumpster fire. Material from the dumpster was emptied and spread out on the ground to dissipate heat.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

The building will include 4,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space, a rooftop pool, a gym, and a 453-space parking garage. It will be located between CarMax Park and Hermitage Road, with an address that will eventually become 2707 Diamond View Drive. The project is expected to be completed and begin renting in early 2028.

Mayor Danny Avula said the groundbreaking is a sign of continued momentum for the broader Diamond District project.

"I think it's a show of continued progress moving in the right direction. Obviously it was super exciting last year to open up the ballpark, again exciting to open up the infrastructure, to announce the Sports Backers deal was done," Avula said. "These are long and complicated things with lots of transactions and lots of pieces. What we want to let Richmond know is that things are continuing to move forward."

Avula confirmed the project remains on schedule despite past legal challenges surrounding the development.

"Now that we've been able to make the transaction with VCU, we're getting underway with the infrastructure work" Avula said. "We are on track for a 2028 completion of this project, and then all of the surrounding things will happen in succession, whether that's the public park, the work with the hotel that abuts the stadium."

The mayor noted that Dma is just the beginning of a much larger effort.

"This is just phase one. Remember there's 60-plus acres of the Diamond District that will be developed in successive stages," Avula said.

A Dinwiddie native, Fitz Lee entered the Army in 1889 and served with the 10th Cavalry Regiment, one of the famed Buffalo Soldier units, during the Spanish-American War. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for extraordinary heroism during a daring rescue mission in Cuba in June 1898.

Fort Lee is the first U.S. Army base to be named after a Buffalo Soldier.

The newly unveiled portrait depicts Lee in the period uniform he would have worn during his rescue mission, filling a gap left by history.

"So 1898, as you can imagine, there's only one photo of Fitz Lee, and he was in civilian uniform. So we wanted to depict a photo of him in the period uniform that he would have been wearing when he rescued those soldiers on the beach of Takoba," CASCOM Commanding General MG Sean Paul Davis said.

Nina Amos, National President of the Buffalo Soldiers 9th and 10th, spoke to the broader significance of the Buffalo Soldiers' legacy.

"It's who we are. It's who America is. I said, and without the Buffalo Soldiers and the history that we actually shared in every single war that has gone on in the United States, the nation would actually not be here," Amos said.

Fitz Lee died just one year after his heroic rescue mission at 33 years old. He was buried with military honors at Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery in Kansas.

We knew we wanted to do something around the 250th anniversary of America, Humble said. We started looking around two years ago for - how are we going to do that? How are we going to tell that story from a Virginia perspective?

The search led the team to Jackson Ward and The JXN Project, a historical preservation effort founded by Dr. Sesha Joi Moon and Enjoli Moon focused on preserving the history of the nations first historically registered Black urban neighborhood.

Through their research, the Moon sisters uncovered the story of Abraham Peyton Skipwith a man whose contributions had largely faded from public memory.

They werent looking for him, but they found his will and that he owned a home, Humble said. He was one of the first homeowners in Jackson Ward.

Considered The Founding Father of Jackson Ward, Skipwiths story reflects the pursuit of freedom and opportunity that shaped the lives of many Black Americans during the nations founding.

After gaining his freedom through manumission, Skipwith purchased a home and taught himself to read and write.

It was clear that he knew what those ideals meant, and he believed in those just like everyone else, Humble said.

Dr. Sesha Joi Moon said discovering Skipwiths story showed the importance of preserving local history and recognizing the contributions of Black Americans who have often been left out of traditional narratives.

When stories are told, we as Black Americans are often either on the periphery or not included all together, Moon said in a statement. But Declarations is rare in its centering of the Black American experience in the pursuit of a more perfect union.

Moon said she hopes the work of The JXN Project encourages others to search for the overlooked historical figures in their own communities.

The next Abraham Peyton Skipwith and Jackson Ward are waiting to be found even if 250 years later, Moon said.

Humble said Skipwiths story represents just one example of the many stories still waiting to be uncovered.

We touch on four of these Black Americans, but there were hundreds, probably thousands that were doing similar things and all kind of reaching for those same ideals of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, Humble said.

"Declarations: Black Americans and the Revolutionary War" is available on PBS platforms.

Christine Hunsberger-Falconio, a teacher at J.G. Hening Elementary School, had her surgery on July 17 and is now starting rehabilitation. She reached out to share the update on her recovery.

Hunsberger-Falconio is a cancer survivor who contracted COVID in 2021, which caused worsening damage to her lungs. After many tests, her doctor told her a double lung transplant was her only option.

She traveled to the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center to wait for a donor.

Hunsberger-Falconio will continue to go through multiple tests and lab work. Once she is finished, she hopes to return home to Chesterfield and get back in the classroom.

She thanks everyone for their support during her journey and hopes to continue healing and getting stronger.

The Virginia Hospital and Health Care Association found there were more than 405,000 emergency room visits last year by patients without insurance a nearly 50% increase since 2022.

That surge is causing major financial strain on the healthcare system. Hospitals are required by law to treat anyone who comes through their doors, so when patients can't pay, hospitals absorb those costs. The Virginia Community Health Care Association says the financial pressure has contributed to the closure of eight school-based health clinics in Southwest Virginia.

"Our health center had to make the difficult decision to close those eight school-based health clinics. That community, they were very dependent on that, on those health clinics. They were in elementary schools, middle schools, high schools. They no longer have access now to healthcare services," Tracy Douglas said.

For clinics that remain open, the extra financial burden is eventually passed on to patients and policyholders through higher insurance premiums.

The data does not include the impact of the recent expiration of expanded tax credits for the Affordable Care Act. The Virginia Community Health Care Association says its clinics have seen a jump in uninsured patients since those credits expired in December, and their uninsured patient base has grown from 14% to 17%.

A federal budget package known as HR 1 will soon introduce stricter Medicaid work requirements, requiring patients to verify their eligibility twice a year. Hospital leaders are concerned these changes will force thousands off of Medicaid. The new law also includes limits on how much money hospitals receive back from Medicaid, meaning Virginia's hospitals will face significant cuts in funding.

"Problem solve and problem solve and problem solve, but at some point that reaches its limit. All of the creative problem solving in the world, becomes really difficult to compensate for and offset."

Health care advocates are meeting with state and federal lawmakers to find ways to protect access to care. In the meantime, experts say healthcare across Virginia could suffer.

Virginia State Police troopers were called to mile marker 152 at 9:08 a.m.

State police said a vehicle struck a construction vehicle in the area.

No injuries were reported. The roadway reopened around 10:30 a.m.

Click here to track current conditions.

The Virginia Boys and Men Advisory Commission held its first meeting at the State Capitol on July 20, bringing together lawmakers, researchers and education leaders to examine data and begin developing policy recommendations.

"Why not now? Why not address this since we've never seen it before, and it's time to have new answers to these issues," said Delegate Josh Thomas (D-Prince William), who serves as the commission's inaugural chair.

Thomas said the issue is also personal.

"I have a 2-year-old son. I am a boy dad and I want his school experience to be better than what's going on right now in the Commonwealth and in the nation," he said.

Education gaps begin before kindergarten

The commission's first meeting focused primarily on education, with researchers pointing to disparities that begin before children even enter the classroom.

Studies presented to the commission found that more than half of boys are not considered ready for kindergarten, compared with 44% of girls.

Researchers also highlighted results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), showing the reading gap between fourth-grade boys and girls has widened over nearly the past decade and worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic. While a gap remains in eighth grade, researchers said it is smaller than in earlier grades.

"That suggests there's a real elementary school problem right now and, perhaps, if you nip it in the bud earlier, you might prevent a lot of this downstream," said Alanna Williams, vice president of the American Institute for Boys and Men.

Beyond reading scores, researchers told the commission that boys are less engaged in school, have dropout rates about 1.5 times higher than girls and are less likely to enroll in college.

Recruiting more male teachers

One proposal receiving significant attention was increasing the number of male educators in Virginia classrooms.

Curtis Valentine, founder of the Male Educators Network and a former middle school teacher, said Virginia trails the national average in the percentage of male teachers, a figure that has steadily declined since the 1980s.

"It's concerning because of the impact that male educators have on students," Valentine said.

He said male teachers can serve as important role models, especially in elementary school.

"Men model behavior, and so for a young boy to see a male educator speaking passionately about reading, about education, about going to college, it matters really, really early on," Valentine said.

Among his recommendations were creating grant programs to help school divisions recruit male teachers, expanding dual-enrollment pathways through community colleges and encouraging military veterans to enter the teaching profession.

"You all can be a national model if there was a lot of support to gather more data, but also to invest in what's working," Valentine told commissioners.

What's next

The Virginia Boys and Men Advisory Commission is expected to meet again in August, when members will discuss either mental health or workforce development.

The commission is required to submit its first report and recommendations to Virginia lawmakers in October.

RICHMOND, Va. High pressure over the southern Great Lakes will continue to funnel drier air into the Mid-Atlantic tonight through Friday. Highs will reach the mid to upper 80s both Thursday and Friday, but low humidity will keep conditions comfortable for late July.

Saturday will be seasonably hot with a slight increase in humidity. Sunday will feature an air mass change, with higher humidity and a chance for late-day thunderstorms.

Warm and very humid weather is expected Monday with a good chance for showers and storms. The chance for rain will continue, albeit to a lesser degree, next Tuesday and Wednesday.

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HENRICO COUNTY, Va. A drive-thru soda shop is bubbling up near Regency this week.

Sippa, a dirty soda shop selling a variety of the non-alcoholic, soda-based beverages mixed with flavored syrups and creamers, is set to open its doors in an old bank branch at 1415 Eastridge Road in western Henrico on Friday. Itll be the first dedicated brick-and-mortar dirty soda shop in the Richmond region.

Click here to continue reading on Richmond BizSense.

The recognition came weeks after first responders raced to the scene just after 10 p.m. on July 4, executing a rescue that demanded quick thinking. Fire crews even used a wagon to help residents with mobility impairments escape the burning building.

Carol Chiovaro, a Darby House resident who was inside when the fire broke out, described the moment she learned the danger was real.

"I had pounding on the door of my neighbors, pounding the door and said, 'Carol, this is a real fire,'" Chiovaro said.

Chiovaro said every resident made it out safely.

"They saved everybody's life, just being there, everybody got out. Everybody got out uninjured," Chiovaro said. "I think they did a great job, and they should be honored."

At Tuesday's board meeting, Henrico Board of Supervisors member Jody Rogish addressed the first responders directly.

"Thank you to all of you on the public safety side. Every day, you put your lives out there, and I'm very appreciative of that," Rogish said.

For the first responders, the public spotlight was unfamiliar territory.

"It's a little strange," said Captain Chris Shultz with the Division of Fire. "It's certainly appreciated, them recognizing us."

For Carol Chiovaro, the message to every first responder who responded that night is simple.

"Thank you," Chiovaro said. "Thank you, because they could have given their life, too, for me."

The crash happened near the 54 mile-marker, near Temple Avenue, around 5:30 p.m.

Virginia State Police said the motorcyclist was traveling at a high rate of speed and attempted to pass a pickup truck on the shoulder.

The motorcycle struck the pickup truck, and the motorcyclist was ejected.

Virginia State Police identified the motorcyclist as Desmond Nichols, 39, of Petersburg. VSP said Nichols was wearing a helmet at the time of the crash.

The unoccupied motorcycle continued traveling along the interstate before hitting an SUV.

No other injuries were reported, Virginia State Police said.

Allan Taylor walked out of the front door of his aunt's Richfield Place apartment unit Monday afternoon and never returned.

Desire Dinkins, Allan's aunt, said she had no idea he had gone to the pool.

"He came in the house, and he said he was just checking in, and he said he was going back outside. He never mentioned the pool," Dinkins said.

By the time Dinkins was notified, Allan had already been removed from the water.

"By the time they came and got me they had already had him out the water. I don't know how long he was under," Dinkins said. "I kind of figure something, because when the ambulance left, there was no lights or sirens."

According to Henrico's Division of Fire, Allan died after being pulled from the pool at the apartment complex. The pool's entrance is now secured with chains, and a sign in front of the leasing office reads the pool will be closed until further notice.

Dinkins said the pool was the last place she expected Allan and his friends to be, saying it had been closed for most of the summer and she does not have a pool pass.

"I didn't even know the pool was open," Dinkins said.

Detectives have had difficulty gathering information from security cameras near the pool.

"You can see on the side of the building pointing directly at the pool are two cameras, but he said the rental office told him it wasn't working," Dinkins said.

The Medical Examiner has not yet determined the cause of death.

On Tuesday afternoon, the family of 9-year-old King Overton who drowned just a few miles away at the SwimRVA North location visited Dinkins to offer their condolences and support.

As Dinkins searches for answers, she said she is focused on staying strong for Allan's three siblings and her own child.

"I'm broken. I don't know if I'm coming or going, but I have to be strong for them, plus I've got one of my own," Dinkins said.

Dinkins also had a message for other parents and caregivers.

"Keep an eye on your kids, make sure they are honest with you, and if you're at the pool and there's no lifeguard there, leave. Especially if you as an adult don't know how to swim yourself," Dinkins said.

Tavern on the Rail, owned and operated by Melody Bower, suffered significant damage when the storm ripped a sheet of metal off the barn's roof, allowing heavy rain and hail to pour inside. The flooding caused severe damage to the venue's carpets and furniture.

The storm was intense enough that Bower went outside during it to see the destruction for herself.

"The water and the wind was blowing so hard this way, it was coming in over top like a river down in the floor everywhere. So I went upstairs and looked, the roof was gone. Insulation hanging, hail beating down on the floor, table, furniture, everything. It was crazy," Bower said.

Neighboring properties also sustained damage, with massive trees knocked over and power lines downed across the area.

In the wake of the storm, community members have stepped up to help one another with cleanup efforts. Bower said the kindness from those around her has been extensive. One friend even offered her own venue for an event this Saturday if the barn is not ready in time.

Bower has also started an online fundraiser to help cover repair costs. Click here to view the fundraiser on GoFundMe.

Richmond police responded to a shots fired and attempted carjacking call at 10:30 a.m. in the 2800 block of Fairfield Avenue, where they found a car that had been shot. The teenage boy was found near the rental office of an apartment complex on the Henrico side of Fairfield Avenue.

Sources say the delivery driver fired several rounds at the teen during the alleged carjacking attempt. Rounds were recovered near the vehicle and a short distance down the road from where it was loaded onto a flatbed truck.

A neighbor described what she heard and saw from inside her home.

"I was upstairs in my bedroom and I heard a loud boom, boom, boom, boom, boom about six or seven times, and I came downstairs and looked out the window and I saw all these police cars and I saw a guy walking, pacing back up and down the sidewalk," she said.

Crime Insider sources say the man seen pacing on the sidewalk was the driver of the car.

The neighbor, who declined to show her face on camera, said her hesitation speaks volumes about the current environment in her East End neighborhood. Having lived in the area for just under two years, she said she has learned to tell family members to avoid contact and confrontation with anyone who lives in and near her community.

"Just last year, you know, a little baby across the street got killed and it's just been chaotic around here ever since. I mean, it's a nice apartment complex," she said. "Yeah, I'm a mom of three, and I'm ready to move already."

No charges have been placed against the delivery driver. Detectives are asking the public for information. Anyone with information can call Crime Stoppers anonymously at 804-780-1000 or text a tip using the P3 app.

The program is the result of a partnership with Skydio. Drone docks are located on the rooftops of Meadowbrook High School, A.M. Davis Elementary School, and Manchester Middle School all in areas with high volumes of calls for service.

Carpenter said traditional response times are limited by road conditions and traffic.

"We are tied to restraints of roadways, traffic conditions, stop lights, etc. These units are able to get on scene in a matter of seconds, you know, to the tune of maybe 120 to 90 seconds to be able to then provide intelligence to responding units on the ground. So this is a game changer," Carpenter said.

Whether it's a shooting, structure fire, missing person, or crash, the drones help determine what resources are needed so responders can be better prepared before they arrive.

The drones fly at about 45 miles per hour and use thermal cameras that point forward until they reach the vicinity of a scene.

Carpenter said the technology is meant to support not replace first responders.

"Let me be clear: launching drone as a first responder program is not a replacement to public safety personnel. Public safety personnel have and will always be our primary point of contact when serving our community," Carpenter said.

Since the program launched, the drones have assisted in seven calls for service as of Tuesday morning.

The program carries a $900,000 price tag over five years. Carpenter said the investment is worth it.

"When you start thinking about it from this perspective, it's really about saving lives, right? And how much do you put on a life? And I think if we can save one life, it's worth $900,000 in five years," Carpenter said.

The county has also launched a public website where residents can see when each drone was deployed, what type of call triggered the launch, and video recorded during the flight.

Jim Ingle, a member of the Chesterfield Board of Supervisors, did not hold back.

"The people that caused the problem were the owners of the dump. They clearly in my opinion committed some acts that I believe they should be prosecuted for," Ingle said.

Fellow board member Mark Miller agreed.

"I think the actions were despicable," Miller said.

The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality is working with the attorney general as investigators look into the actions of the owners of Shoosmith Landfill.

DEQ Director Mike Rolband recently gave the Chesterfield Board of Supervisors an update on the situation and explained the major concerns his office is working with the bankruptcy trustee to address.

Engineers say Shoosmith is an elevated temperature landfill, which means it produces more leachate a liquid that results from decomposing trash that can be toxic. Rolband said the rising temperature compounds the problem.

"As the temperature goes up the leachate production goes up and causes more problem and more cost to get rid of it."

Rolband showed pictures of leachate seeping to the surface of the landfill.

"These are some examples of where we've had some seep. The site overall is not this bad, but these are pictures of some terrible spots."

He also showed nighttime pictures of leachate releases.

A February notice of violation issued to the landfill by DEQ found that dark liquid with the appearance of leachate was observed discharging from the landfill in December into a conveyance leading to Swift Creek and Piney Branch, along with outfalls of suspended solids, ammonia, and zinc that exceeded legal limits. The notice raised concerns that leachate could be reaching Swift Creek, which leads to the Appomattox River.

But Rolband told reporters after the presentation that DEQ staff now questions that finding.

"There's difference of opinion on what that inspection report says. As far as we know, it does not say that. That's been our staff's interpretation."

Rolband added there is currently no indication of widespread leachate migration.

"There's no indication that there's mass migration of leachate into any of the streams or water bodies around the reservoir, including the Swift Creek," Jesse Smith, Deputy County Administrator for Community Development in Chesterfield said.

Rolband also addressed a 50-foot mechanically stabilized earth wall on the side of the landfill that borders a neighborhood and Swift Creek. The wall enabled the landfill to increase its volume of waste, but Rolband said the elevated temperature of the landfill puts pressure on it.

"It's a bit scary, it's right next to the elevated temperature landfill."

"We've got to make sure it continues to stay stable."

Rolband said he currently has no knowledge of problems with the wall, but he explained what could happen if there was a catastrophic failure at the landfill.

"What if there was a failure, and this leachate left the site and went into the surface waters, where does it go? It goes into Swift Creek, it goes in the Appomattox and it goes in the James River. We don't want this to ever happen," Rolband said.

Rolband said there is enough money to manage the landfill through the next year, which will give all parties time to strategize a path forward, but more money will be needed.

DEQ is also proposing new regulations to ensure this situation never happens again.

First responders were dispatched to the 9900 block of Independence Park Drive on Friday, May 22 around 5:40 p.m. after receiving a 911 call from a man reporting a medical emergency, officials with Henrico Police said.

When crews arrived, they found the woman inside a room at the hotel with signs of trauma. The woman was pronounced dead at the scene, according to police.

John Adam Long, 36, was initially arrested and charged with second-degree murder and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony.

In June, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled the woman's death was a suicide.

After consulting with the Henrico County Commonwealths Attorneys Office, the charges against Long were dismissed without prejudice, police said.

According to a news release from the county, officers were called to the intersection of Jefferson Park Road and Brandywine Drive for reports of a crash involving a police vehicle and a civilian vehicle.

The officer and the driver of the other car suffered minor injuries.

"The circumstances surrounding the collision are still under active investigation by the Prince George Police Department," officials said, noting that further details will be released when available.

Anyone who witnessed the crash or has additional information is asked to contact the Prince George Police Department at 804-733-2770.

Google is proposing four data centers, three substations, parking, roads, utilities, and stormwater management facilities on the 880-plus-acre property.

According to the filing, the project is projected to permanently destroy 17.99 acres of palustrine forested wetlands and impact 8,115 linear feet of stream channel associated with Deep Creek, a tributary of the James River. An additional 7.23 acres of forested wetlands would be converted to a less ecologically valuable wetland type. Construction would also temporarily impact 125 linear feet of stream channel.

To offset unavoidable environmental damage, Google proposes purchasing 43.31 wetland credits and 9,213 stream credits from approved mitigation banks.

To minimize impacts, the company says it will cross stream channels perpendicularly and position stormwater basins to maintain pre-development water flow conditions. Google also says the project will preserve 121 of 147 total on-site wetland acres and 23,723 of 32,045 total linear feet of stream channel.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will make the final determination on whether the proposed mitigation is sufficient to offset losses to waters of the United States.

Click here to submit public comments, by the end of day Tuesday.

"I love being active and being with friends, and baseball is just my favorite thing to do when I'm active," Gavin said.

Three years ago, his family was facing a diagnosis that would change all of their lives.

"Gavin started having leg pain when he was 10. Doctors thought it was just growing pains," his mother, Jenny Yonce, said.

Doctors at Childrens Hospital of Richmond at VCU diagnosed Gavin with Ewing sarcoma, a rare bone cancer in his right leg.

The Mechanicsville boy's family says he had only about a 10% chance of survival without chemotherapy and life-altering surgery.

"It's really scary to watch your son and know that he's going to have to deal with so much," Jenny said. "And at the time, we didn't know he was going to have his leg amputated."

Gavin underwent a total of 14 rounds of chemo over the course of 9 months while spending two to five nights in and out of the hospital, followed by a rotationplasty procedure, a limb-sparing surgery that allowed him to remain active after treatment. As he recovered, he learned life with limb loss would require more than determination.

"I learned that there's different names for cancers and that you need different prosthetics for different activities," Gavin said.

Despite the challenges, he stayed focused on getting back to the things he loved.

"I just kept trying to keep going," he said.

But after treatment ended, the Yonce family discovered another obstacle.

Insurance covered an everyday prosthetic designed for walking, but not the specialized prosthetic Gavin needed to run, swim and play baseball.

"He's an athlete by heart and by nature, born athlete," Jenny said. "He needed something that could get him moving a little bit more. So that's when we realized, when we looked into it more, that insurance wasn't going to cover that."

Instead of accepting that reality, the Yonce family turned their experience into advocacy.

They joined So Every BODY Can Move (SEBCM), a national campaign working to expand insurance coverage for activity-specific prosthetic and orthotic devices.

The mission is personal for the organization's national campaign lead, Nicole Ver Kuilen, who also lost a leg to bone cancer as a child.

"My journey starts back when I was 10 years old, and I lost my leg to osteosarcoma, bone cancer," Ver Kuilen said. "Growing up, I did not have access to what I needed to be physically active."

The organization is supporting legislation across the country, including Virginia's House Bill 216, sponsored by Del. Dan Helmer (D-Fairfax). The proposal would require certain health insurance plans to cover activity prosthetics and orthotics for people with limb loss or mobility impairments.

"What this legislation is doing is putting into law that our community deserves access and can access more than one device for those essential daily movements, for exercise, for physical activity, and for just basic hygiene," Ver Kuilen said.

Earlier this year, Gavin traveled to the Virginia General Assembly to share his story with lawmakers.

"I talked about how I need running prosthetics to get around, and that insurance doesn't cover that right now. So we need to get that," he said.

So far, 15 states have passed similar legislation. Supporters hope Virginia will be among the next as part of the campaign's goal of passing laws in 28 states before the 2028 Paralympic Games.

For Jenny, who now serves as SEBCM Virginia's co-state lead, the effort is ensuring that every child has the opportunity to move.

"Movement is a right, and we feel like he has that right to move and to be active and live an active lifestyle," she said. "So Every BODY Can Move is all about expanding health insurance to have insurance companies cover prosthetics activity prosthetics specifically."

As for Gavin, his message to other children facing obstacles is simple:

"Just keep going. Never give up on what you love."

Alana Hartman-Hall filed suit in Richmond federal court, naming the Chesterfield School Board, the superintendent, and other officials as defendants. She's alleging that her termination was a violation of her First Amendment rights.

Hartman-Hall was dean of students at Clover Hill High School before her termination last October. The firing came several weeks after she posted comments on her personal Facebook page about Kirk's killing.

"When you promote violence and advocate for a percentage of teachers and students to be sacrificed to school shootings. You reap what you sow... If you aren't in a school and aren't responsible for kids you'll never get it. Once again Charlie Kirk you reap what you sow." Hartman-Hall said.

Hartman-Hall is seeking $10 million in compensatory damages, in addition to loss of wages and other damages.

CBS 6 reached out to Chesterfield County Public Schools. The school system declined to comment.

Troopers were called to the 6800 block of Boydton Plank Road (Route 1) at 7:57 p.m. for a crash involving three vehicles.

Initial investigation shows a 2013 Chevrolet Tahoe was attempting to make a left turn when it collided with a 2002 Kawasaki motorcycle heading north, a news release says.

The impact of the crash caused the motorcycle to leave the roadway and hit a 2019 Honda Accord that was heading out of a parking lot.

The motorcyclist, identified as Tyrone M. Cooper, 41, of North Dinwiddie, was pronounced dead. He was wearing a helmet at the time of the crash.

The driver of the Tahoe, who was not identified by state police, has been charged with failure to yield right of way while turning left and driving while license revoked or suspended.

State police said there is no indication that drugs or alcohol were factors in the crash at this time.

The crash is still under investigation.

CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. Two major capital projects intended to help accommodate growth in the western part of Chesterfield are getting closer to completion.

Work is well underway on the new 340,000-square-foot West Ridge High School, as well as a $60 million project to build a north-south road to connect Westerleigh Parkway and Duval Road. Both projects in the Moseley area are slated to be completed in 2027.

Click here to continue reading on Richmond BizSense.

RICHMOND, Va. Hazy sunshine will return to the area Wednesday with a high in the mid/upper 80s. Skies will be mainly clear tonight with a low in the mid to upper 60s.

Thursday and Friday look mainly dry with slightly below-average temperatures and lower humidity. Highs will generally remain in the low to mid 80s.

Warmer and more humid summer air begins to return this weekend.

A few scattered thunderstorms may develop Sunday, with additional storm chances continuing into Monday and Tuesday.

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Officers were called to the 11700 block of Route 1, which is not far from Osborne Road, at 1:10 a.m.

When first responders arrived, they found the juvenile inside a nearby business.

The juvenile was taken to an area hospital where they are being treated for non-life-threatening injuries, police said.

Anyone with more information is asked to call CCPD at 804-748-1251 or contact Crime Solvers by calling 804-748-0660 or through the P3 app.

Crews with the Henrico Department of Public Utilities closed the intersection of Gaskins Road between Mayland and West Broad Street around noon Sunday after the water main break was discovered. DPU workers had to open up several nearby hydrants to relieve pressure and begin restoration efforts.

John Oulton, owner of Richmond Limo on West Broad Street, says he arrived at work Monday morning to a flooded parking lot, while DPU crews worked to relieve pressure to the system.

"In the meantime, us and every other business in this little strip here has our fire hydrants open, which is creating a nice little pond; it's Lake Richmond Limo here," Oulton said.

By 5:30 p.m. Monday, DPU crews were able to attach a hose to the hydrant outside of Oultons business, to divert water to a nearby ditch.

According to DPU, workers have placed a temporary repair on the water main break, which will temporarily restore water to impacted customers. Some may continue to experience low water pressure as permanent repairs are expected to begin Thursday with the delivery of needed materials.

Erika Bailey, who owns New Growth Behavioral Health on West Broad Street, said the situation raises concerns for the company, which provides 24-hour crisis stabilization services and temporary housing.

"We can have one client ... to ten clients come in a day, and to not be able to provide them the quality of service that we signed up to do would definitely be an effect," Bailey said.

Sunday night's storms added to the week's challenges for Oulton. He says two large trees on company property fell Sunday night, damaging three vehicles.

"Something new everyday, Oulton said. We had that take place yesterday, the fire hydrant got opened up, I had two trees drop last night. You know we're just rolling in it.

Both Oulton and Bailey say DPU crews have been keeping them in the loop on restoration efforts. While they are thankful for the hard work, both say theyre hoping for a quick resolution.

"We're hoping that whatever they need to do they can get it done as quickly as possible," Bailey said.

"The quicker the better for sure!" Oulton said.

All southbound lanes on Gaskins Road between West Broad Street and Mayland will continue to be closed until next week.

DPU is asking anyone experiencing issues with water service to call the Department of Public Utilities at 804-501-4275 on weekdays between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., or the after-hours line at 804-501-5025.

The tax would apply to most purchases, with exemptions for medicine and groceries. Leaders say it would raise more than $47 million in its first year.

Richmond Public Schools Superintendent Jason Kamras said the funds would be spent transparently.

"My commitment to you as superintendent of the school system is that as we create a new facilities plan, that would be the roadmap for how to use those funds, that it will be done transparently, and we will aim to be as efficient as we possibly can with every single dollar to ensure that every child gets the very best chance to be in a modern facility," Kamras said.

Councilwoman Reva Trammel calls the proposal an insult to taxpayers. According to reporting by the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Trammel is calling for a four-cent reduction in real estate taxes, which she says would save taxpayers $120 per year, while Avula's plan would save that same taxpayer $30.

The next step will be for the Richmond Circuit Court to order an election for Richmonders to vote on the proposal.

"DPU is aware of reports of discolored water," the department said on social media Monday night. "This is likely due to returning the 36 inch water main back to service after isolating it over the July 4 weekend and not a water quality issue."

A short time later, the DPU said hydrant flushing to remove remaining sedimentation was completed.

"Customers still experiencing discolored water should flush their plumbing through their cold-water faucet," the post reads. "If after several minutes the issue is not resolved, customers can report it to DPU at 804-646-4646."