Brodie

Protesters decry anti-trans policies at Capitol Square demonstration On Saturday, Capitol Square was lined with tombstones, each bearing the name of a murdered transgender person. Activists, lying still on the lawn, symbolized the growing threat of violence and hatred ...

Activists staged a die-in at the Capitol on Saturday to commemorate trans people who have lost their lives to hate crimes and raise awareness about growing threats of violence against the trans community.
m.richmondfreepress.com/news/2025/ma...

"I have today used the executive clemency authority granted to me by the Constitution of Virginia and commuted the sentence imposed on Sgt. Wesley Shifflett who was convicted of recklessly discharging a firearm by the Fairfax County Circuit Court. "I am convinced that the court's sentence of incarceration is unjust and violates the cornerstone of our justice system-that similarly situated individuals receive proportionate sentences. I want to emphasize that a jury acquitted Sgt. Shifflett of the more serious charge of involuntary manslaughter, a conviction for which the sentencing guidelines recommend no jail time or up to six months' incarceration. "In this case, the court rejected the Senior Probation and Parole Officer's recommendation of no incarceration nor supervised probation and instead imposed a sentence of five years' incarceration with two suspended and an additional five years of probation. Sgt. Shifflett has no prior criminal record, and was, by all accounts, an exemplary police officer. It is in the interest of justice that he be released immediately. "My action does not limit Sgt. Shifflett's right to appeal his reckless discharge of a firearm conviction."

Gov. Youngkin just commuted the sentence of a former Fairfax Police Officer who was sentenced to 3 years in prison on Friday.

Wesley Shifflett was convicted of reckless handling of a firearm after he shot and killed Timothy Johnson, who was unarmed.

Flurry of fluff The city saw a sudden winter chill this week, as light snow covered the streets, bringing a pause to the usual rush hour bustle. With office buildings and schools closing, city parks became gathering ...

If you were in RVA this week, you probably noticed we did not get the 10-14 inches of snow that earlier predictions called for.

In my latest, meteorologist @subletteweather.com explains why weather app predictions tend to be higher than reality.

m.richmondfreepress.com/news/2025/fe...

Snow winding down in RVA But sticking around in the cold

Not quite over yet, but already time to do some Sunday evening quarterbacking.

Also, be on the lookout for a forthcoming story from @brodiegreene.bsky.social about this storm at the Richmond Free Press.

Thank you for your expertise and the shoutout!

HCPS Families and Staff, Here we go again! More snow is in the forecast for central Virginia. As a result, all HCPS schools and offices will be closed on Wednesday, Feb. 19. Twelve-month employees should telework as they are able. HCPS Facilities staff will not report to work except for "On-Call" staff as needed. To make up for this missed time, Friday, March 21, will become a full instructional day (previously a half-day). If Thursday is also a snow day, the school day will be extended by 20 minutes from March 3 - March 26.

#henrico schools are closed tomorrow, plus a future half-day is now a full day.

Fighting back Hundreds of protesters from across the state gathered at the Bell Tower in Capitol Square at noon as part of the nationwide “50 Protests, 50 States, 1 Day” movement, condemning policies enacted by the...

My latest— You may have heard of the nationwide “50 Protests, 50 States, 1 Day” movement, but did you know that the Virginia demonstration was put together by high-school aged activists? m.richmondfreepress.com/news/2025/fe...

Penny’s Wine Shop to appear in local Super Bowl commercial Before the pandemic, Lance Lemon and his business partner, Kristen Gardner Beal, had plans to open a brick and mortar wine shop. With quarantine in effect, they shifted their business model online, cr...

Penny’s Wine Shop was featured in a Super Bowl commercial for Google Gemini, a generative artificial intelligence program. Also— The use of AI in small businesses has nearly doubled in the last year.
m.richmondfreepress.com/news/2025/fe...

Campus workers lobby for collective bargaining rights, free speech on campus Over the past year, Kristin Reed, a career educator at Virginia Commonwealth University, has witnessed the university’s board of visitors vote to increase tuition after it laid off a record number of ...

In January, members of the United Campus Workers of Virginia lobbied in support of collective bargaining rights for public sector employees and the right to protest on campus. m.richmondfreepress.com/news/2025/ja...

Richmond fire chief retires Richmond Chief of Fire and Emergency Services Melvin Carter announced his retirement Friday, Dec. 27, after nearly four decades of service to the city. Carter was the third African-American chief in t...

Richmond Fire Chief Melvin Carter announced his retirement at the end of last year. He worked with Richmond Fire for nearly 40 years. m.richmondfreepress.com/news/2025/ja...

Youngkin serving up tax relief for tipped workers with new plan Gov. Glenn Youngkin visited McLean’s Restaurant in Scott’s Addition on Monday where he donned an apron and served breakfast after announcing a budget proposal that would eliminate state income taxes o...

Gov. Youngkin announced tax relief for tipped employees in December. Del. Mike Jones supported the idea, but believes the governor can do more to support working families. m.richmondfreepress.com/news/2024/de...

Giving Machine offers unique way to support local, global causes Holiday shoppers at Short Pump Town Center were serenaded last Friday with a rendition of “Joy to the World” by a quartet from the Richmond Concert Chorale followed by a ribbon-cutting ceremony celebr...

Holiday shoppers at the Short Pump Mall donated to charity through a vending machine that works in reverse. m.richmondfreepress.com/news/2024/de...

RVA Community Fridges stay cool with help after vandalism Taylor Scott founded RVA Community Fridges nearly four years ago, inspired by similar mutual aid initiatives in California and New Orleans.

In mid December, one of 14 fridges maintained by RVA Community fridges was vandalized. Richmonders responded by donating food and money to get the organization back on track. m.richmondfreepress.com/news/2024/de...

What’s up Bluesky? Sometime in the last month I became really bad at updating my socials. Anyways, I’ve gained some followers and I want to share a couple articles I’ve written in the last month or so. 🧵

Looks like Tiktok users are greeted with a Trump shoutout when they open the app

rva: if you are now getting any tap water, please use as little as possible. partial pressure seems to now be reaching some residents in the fan. jackson ward, carver, scott's, northside, and other wards are still dry.

Seems like I chose a good time to be out of town for the week.

If we are going to continue with automation of customer service (and losing jobs in the process), the technology should at the very least be functional and easy to understand for all of us.

As someone who has worked as a pharmacy clerk I have seen firsthand the confusion and frustration that barriers like this create for our elderly community members. I’ve seen folks take the bus across town to pick up something that isn’t ready because an automated text told them it was.

As young person, I have the advantage of understanding this technology. I wonder if my grandmother, who has many more prescriptions than I do, would be able to navigate the obstacles that stand in the way of contacting a health care provider.

The machine replies “sorry, I didn’t quite get that” twice before deciding that yes, I do need to speak with someone at the pharmacy. I could have told it that, but whatever

I called the pharmacy today after receiving a message to do so in order to discuss a prescription. When I ask to speak with the pharmacy, the answering machine says “I can actually help you with most concerns.” I tell the machine I was specifically instructed to speak with the pharmacy.

Not to “old man yells at cloud” but I really think we are due for a reckoning about these automated answering machines.

She did!! It has like a fart scent inside and it actually smells pretty bad. I didn’t think it was a real thing but toys are way cool nowadays

My nine-year-old sister asked Santa Clause for a fart blaster to “punish” people who get on her nerves.

yup. Seems like it’s just used to dismiss anything considered remotely progressive

I think it’s kind of cute. Do you have any issues with hitting your head on the roof?

Orange cat with a dumb look on his face

Got a new camera. All i’ve had time to do is take cat pics

Seeing more and more bots on here we are so back

Moments after waking up this morning one of my cats hopped up on the bed and threw up in front of me. I wonder if he thinks this is helpful? Like “hey I just threw up, it’s right here and you might wanna clean it up.”