By Chloe Hawkins, Capital News Service

RICHMOND, Va. ‒ An interstate divided the Jackson Ward neighborhood in Richmond decades ago, and now leaders hope a bridge will help reunite it.

The proposed project area for a bridge deck to better connect the neighborhood runs from the Belvidere Street bridge to east of the North First Street bridge over Interstate 95. Federal dollars from a new program will help fund the project.

The interstate was built almost 70 years ago, and in recent years many citizens and leaders have acknowledged its long lasting impact on the community. Local and state agencies launched the Reconnect Jackson Ward Feasibility Study in January 2022 and utilized citizen input throughout the process. Grant applications were submitted last October to the U.S. Department of Transportation's Reconnecting Communities Pilot Program.

Democratic Virginia U.S. Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine announced in late February nearly $3 million in federal funding to improve transportation infrastructure and reconnect communities in Richmond and Norfolk. 

Approximately 20 states have used transportation departments to build connections over highways, according to the final report from Reconnect Jackson Ward. Design elements include bridges, caps and lids to cover highways and create parks and pedestrian and bicycle pathways, according to the report.

The DOT pilot program will help reconnect neighborhoods that lack economic opportunity due to transportation infrastructure, according to a press release. Norfolk will receive $1.6 million and Richmond will receive $1.35 million toward the Jackson Ward project. 

The congressional Bipartisan Infrastructure Law established the pilot program and funded it with $1 billion over the next five years, according to an agency press release. The first round of funding distributed $185 million across 45 U.S. communities.

Warner recently visited the St. Paul's neighborhood in Norfolk to celebrate the project funding. 

"Too many communities were cut off by the development of the interstate system," Warner stated on Twitter. 

The Norfolk I-264 Reconnecting Communities Project will be used to find a solution to a jumbled, 14-lane stretch of interstate called the "spaghetti bowl" that blocks a low-income, majority African-American neighborhood from access to the downtown Norfolk area, according to a press release.

"I'm glad this funding is coming to Norfolk and Jackson Ward to bring together communities that were separated and burdened by the placement of past infrastructure projects," Kaine stated in an email response to an interview request. "I'm looking forward to seeing the positive impacts of these investments." 

Kaine will continue to look for opportunities to help Virginia communities that may be cut off economically, he stated. 

Gary Flowers is the radio host of the "Gary Flowers Show," a weekday morning radio show that highlights civic engagement and Black history, according to Flowers. He leads frequent walking tours through Jackson Ward that explore the influences which led to the ward's earlier identity as the "Black Wall Street" and "Harlem of the South." 

The government must answer a few questions in order to address the displacement in Jackson Ward, he said.

"How will it address the Black residents displaced by I-95?" Flowers said. "Secondly, if there is a connector, then who is being connected?"

The interstate system was needed, but forced Black communities out of their neighborhoods, Flowers said.

"What was nefarious about the placement of I-95 from Maine to Florida is that communities of color were deliberately chosen for placement of the much needed federal highway," Flowers said. 

The "white power structure" chose to build the interstate through the prosperous Jackson Ward community, Flowers said. Approximately 300 Black-owned businesses, seven insurance companies and five banks were located there, according to Flowers.

Flowers hopes to see the historic Jackson Ward neighborhood extended to its original boundaries, and people reimbursed for their losses, he said. 

"To address the question of recompense for those homeowners, business owners and church congregations that were deliberately disrupted by I-95," Flowers said.

The interstate divided a thriving, self-sufficient Black neighborhood, which left the area vulnerable to the impacts of redlining by "white Richmond banks," Flowers said. Redlining is a now illegal practice where lenders avoid investing in individuals who live in communities of color because of their race or national origin.

The federal funding will help on "many different fronts," according to Melody Short, co-founder of the Jackson Ward Collective Foundation and vice president of programming. The Jackson Ward Collective supports current and aspiring Black business owners, according to its website.

"[Funding] helps with beautification, which naturally increases the attraction and value of the neighborhood," Short said. 

The neighborhood also needs funding to help build more affordable housing, she said. 

"It is a neighborhood that has been gentrified, and so historically that pushes the folk out of the neighborhood, and that's not helpful," Short said. "This was once upon a time an all-Black neighborhood."

Preliminary engineering and design plans for the bridge deck are slated to occur over the next two years, according to a project timeline, with construction projected to be complete by 2028.

By Chloe Hawkins, Capital News Service

RICHMOND, Va. – There are still some spots remaining in a new academic program that aims to support Virginia public school students after the impact of COVID-19 on education, although a majority have been filled. 

The Virginia Department of Education and Graduation Alliance launched "ENGAGE Virginia'' last month. ENGAGE Virginia will help students with learning and attendance issues after the effects of the pandemic, according to a VDOE press release. It will "supplement efforts already underway in schools to meet the needs of students still struggling with academic, attendance and mental health issues," stated Jillian Balow in a press release. Balow was the state superintendent of Public Instruction but recently resigned. 

The program is state-funded and free to the public, according to ENGAGE Virginia's website. Families who sign up will be assigned an academic success coach, according to its website. The coaches will help students in ways like to focus on their schoolwork, create resumes and refer students to local social-emotional support nonprofits. 

The VDOE Office of School Quality is in charge of overseeing ENGAGE Virginia, according to Aurelia Ortiz, director of School Quality. This office "helps schools with school improvement," Ortiz said. 

The General Assembly designated $3.5 million for academic assistance to the VDOE during the 2022 session, according to Ortiz. After the pandemic, the VDOE had many concerns around student displacement, Ortiz said. 

"After the pandemic we knew that divisions had concerns, which we were aware of, with student engagement, with chronic absenteeism, students that had fallen off the roster, students that they could not locate," Ortiz said. "Students can't be successful if they aren't in school."

Forty-two school divisions reached out to ENGAGE Virginia to sign students up, while 30 school divisions officially partnered with ENGAGE Virginia, according to Ortiz. Over 11,000 program spots have been filled out of the allotted 15,000, Ortiz said. 

These spots are "tentatively taken" by the school divisions, which means each division's needs vary depending on its size, Ortiz said. Parents can also reach out to their child's school to ask for academic help. 

"As long as there are seats available — which as of right now you can see by the numbers there are seats available — then they [families] would be eligible for the program as well," Ortiz said.

ENGAGE Virginia offers a human resource in schools where those resources are lacking, whether that be through a social worker or school counselor, according to Ortiz. 

"A social worker would make a referral for community services, the counselor would offer mental health support, a teacher would provide homework assistance," Ortiz said. "ENGAGE Virginia will do all of those things wrapped into one to meet the needs of the families."

The impact of the program should be multilayered, through mental and academic support and the link to community resources, she said. 

COVID-19 created the largest disruption of education systems in history, according to a United Nations policy brief released in August 2020. 

Parent Courtney Dean's family had a hard time adjusting to the pandemic, according to Dean. Dean's two children, 11th grader Carter and eighth grader Stella, are enrolled in Chesterfield County Public Schools, according to Dean. 

The pandemic was "challenging" for Dean's children, she said. It was tough for them academically, but they also missed out on a lot of "lasts," Dean said. Her two children's fifth and eighth grade school years were cut short by the pandemic, and they missed out on end-of-year events.

"She [Stella] was doing fine as far as learning in the virtual world at first," Dean said. "But she had a really hard time focusing and paying attention to virtual because it's so much more interesting to look around your bedroom and, you know, mess with things ... many times I would find her asleep because she could."

Stella also had issues with her Spanish class once she transferred back to in-person classes, Dean said. 

 Stella advanced to the next level Spanish class, but is retaking it because she needed a better foundation, Dean said. 

"She started that when she was virtual and then it went back to a hybrid thing where the teacher was trying to teach both the kids that were there in person, like my daughter, as well as the kids who were at home," Dean said. "For my daughter, it just didn't work ... to no fault of the teacher; it was brand new for everybody and she was doing her best."

Dean's son, Carter, dealt with more of an "emotional struggle," she said. He worked over 12 hours a day on homework, from 7 a.m. to midnight, once things went virtual, according to Dean. 

"He got to the point where he was just so exhausted from it," Dean said.

Dean was not aware of the ENGAGE Virginia relief program, but said it seems like it will be "so helpful" for students who had a hard time adjusting to virtual or hybrid learning environments.

"You can't stop the flow of learning for everybody," Dean said, but some students might need more help outside of the class. 

Parents can start the registration process through ENGAGE Virginia, here.

Chloe Hawkins, Capital News Service 

RICHMOND, Va. – Thousands of Virginians used a warm November Saturday to cast ballots on the final day of early voting.

Lawmakers passed a series of election reform measures in recent years that expand the voting period and allow for no-excuse absentee voting, or early voting.

Virginia voters will elect a member to the U.S. House of Representatives in all of the state’s 11 congressional districts, with varying districts also voting on local candidates and initiatives. Over 1 million absentee ballots were requested, according to the Virginia Department of Elections. Over 940,000 ballots have been received as of Nov. 7. Over 680,000 ballots were returned in person, and over 226,000 ballots were mailed. 

Polls were open on weekdays except for the two Saturdays preceding the election. A steady line of people waited five to 10 minutes outside the Henrico County Western Government Center to vote Saturday. Some people waited longer than they might on Election Day, but appreciated the convenience of checking voting off their to-do list.

Henrico County general registrar Mark Coakley has held the position for 18 years, he said. Coakley, who studied political science in college, said he chose to be a part of the political process because it’s been a passion of his since he was a young adult.

“I’m really excited for voters showing up,” Coakley said. “Today, and on Election Day.”

Voters are happy with this shift, he said.

“With early voting, the voters get to choose to wait in line at 8:30 on a Saturday morning,” Coakley said. “It’s their choice — they’re not forced to vote on a Tuesday after a long workday.”

Alan Wagner is a voter who lives in Henrico County, parts of which are in congressional District 1. Wagner is concerned about crime, and the economy—especially the rising costs of items due to inflation, he said.

“I’m afraid to go into downtown Richmond sometimes,” Wagner said. “And the gas and food prices are outrageous.” 

This is the first year Wagner voted early, in four decades of voting, he said. He decided to vote early due to the uncertainty of his work schedule on Election Day. 

“I’m really busy working 10-hour shifts,” Wagner said. “I don’t know what the lines will look like at the precinct after 5 o'clock on Tuesday.” 

Virginia residents have more of a voice in elections such as midterms, Coakley said, when they choose representatives to speak on their behalf in Congress. But, turnout is always higher in a presidential election. Almost 2.7 million early votes were cast in 2020 in Virginia, according to the state’s Department of Elections. For the gubernatorial election last year, over 1.1 million people voted early, according to the Virginia Public Access Project, or VPAP. 

Although voter turnout in the 2018 midterm election was historic, an expanded time frame for early voting did not exist, Coakley said, which makes turnout comparisons more difficult.

“These laws weren’t put in place in 2018,” Coakley said. “But they have caused an increase in early voting.” 

For example, over 330,000 early votes were cast in 2018 in Virginia, and that number will likely be at least three times higher this year, according to data from the Virginia Department of Elections. But, 1.2 million more people voted in 2018 than the previous midterm election. It remains to be seen if turnout this year will reach similar participation.

There is a 70% return rate of absentee ballots overall in Virginia as of Nov. 7, with the lowest district return rate at 64% and the highest at 76%, according to the Virginia Department of Elections.

Election Day is Nov. 8. Absentee ballots must be postmarked by that date and received by noon three days after the election to count. Voters can find their polling place on the Virginia Department of Elections website. Voters can also register to vote on Election Day, though they will be given a provisional ballot.