Richmond-based Naborforce launches "golden interns" program for seniors

1 big thing: Interns get the "golden" treatment

Richmond seeks to tweak city charter

2. City asks to tweak charter

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3. The Current: 🚆 More money for trains

Illustration of a cardinal sitting on a branch with "The Current" carved into the branch.

Pinkies up: VMFA's new tea room opens Sunday

4. 🫖 Pinkies up: There's a new tea room in town

Richmond airport trying to catch loose chickens

5. 🐓 2 loose chickens to go

It's Friday! Let's all leave work early and celebrate.

😎 Today's weather: Mostly sunny, with a high near 58.

🎂 Happy birthday to our Axios Richmond member Laura Crowley! And a happy early birthday to member Jon Bridges!

Today's newsletter is 920 words — a 3.5-minute read.

😭 Karri executed a flawless parallel parking job on Arthur Ashe today: a full U-turn then two turns into a teeny, tiny little space — in traffic while delaying nobody. And no one saw it.

🐓 Ned is rooting for the airport chickens.

This newsletter was edited by Fadel Allassan and copy edited by Carlin Becker.

Richmond

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A daily look at the most significant and interesting stories affecting Richmond.

Axios Richmond

Standard

Williamsburg festival faces backlash after menorah lighting denial

1 big thing: Israel-Hamas conflict hits a small town festival

Illustration of the candles on a menorah blown out.

Stay booked and busy

2. 🚄 Raleigh to Richmond lands $1B grant

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3. The Current: 🗞 Headlines from around Virginia

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4 Richmond restaurants close, but new ones are on the way

4. A few restaurant closures — and some new ones coming 

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🐋 Happy Wednesday. We're halfway there.

⛅️ Today's weather: Mostly cloudy in the morning with scattered showers, high near 46.

Today's newsletter is 934 words — a 3.5-minute read. 

🙌 Karri is wishing her much older sister a very, very and super duper happy 50th birthday. Because she's 50! FIFTY!!

🥳 Ned is celebrating his son's second birthday. 

VMFA returns dozens of stolen ancient art

1 big thing: VMFA returns stolen art

Richmonders are going for fewer walks

2. 🚶 Take a walk

3. The Current: City jail on "compliance plan"

The Main Street Station Clock Tower canoeing down a river. 

4. Weekend picks: The coolest things to do in town 

Illustration of lit marquee letters spelling "WEEKEND" sitting in a row of theater seats.

New jobs to check out

5. 🕎 4 ways to celebrate Hanukkah in town 

Animated illustration of a dreidel spinning and moving across the screen.

🕎 A happy first night of Hanukkah to all who celebrate.

☀️ Today's weather: Sunny, with a high near 52.

Today's newsletter is 909 words — a 3.5-minute read.

🧑‍🍳 Ned is seriously craving some latkes. 

🎄 Karri is excited to participate in the Parade of Lights for the first time this year. She'll be clutching a space heater like a life-vest and sucking down eggnog to warm herself from the inside. 

Thanks to Fadel Allassan for editing and Carlin Becker for copy editing today's edition.

1 big thing: 🗞️ Local news is drying up

2. New book rips open Liberty and Falwell feuds

3. The Current: News from around the state 

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4. 🥃 A new Richmond-made bourbon 

😎 Today's weather: Mostly sunny, with a high near 60.

Today's newsletter is 886 words — a 3.5-minute read.

🙌 Karri is out of the office today to punish Ned for taking Friday off.

🍹 Ned wants to make milk punch this Christmas. Anyone have have a favorite recipe to share?

What Virginia Democrats' proposed abortion rights constitutional amendment would do

1 big thing: ⚕️ The looming abortion fight

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Richmond's top prosecutor: USPS collection boxes "not safe"

2. 📮 “Your mail is not safe”

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3. The Current: 🏛 Residency lawsuit dismissed

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New 73-room hotel coming to the Fan

4. 👷 Work begins on Fan hotel

Take your career to the next level

5. Stoney makes it official-official

Photo illustration of Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney with lines radiating from him.

☁️ Today's weather: Cloudy with a high near 54.

🎂 Happy birthday to our Axios Richmond member Allie Fitchett!

🚀 Want to elevate your support of our newsroom? Follow the lead of fellow readers who have joined our membership program.

Today's newsletter is 849 words — a 3-minute read.

🥛 Ned appreciates the milk punch recipes people sent in. He'll let you know how it goes.

😊 Karri was delighted to learn recently that the author of the viral and satirical sad beige kids Insta account is also her neighborhood librarian.

FetchError

The city is pushing ahead with revisions to the city charter, but none of the sweeping reforms proposed earlier this summer.

What's happening: The City Council is only asking the General Assembly to approve two significant changes.

One would allow the city to begin offering real estate tax relief to low- and moderate-income residents.

A second would allow the council to increase its $26,000-a-year compensation.

Between the lines: The remainder of the changes are mostly cleanup, like deleting duplicative language and subbing in gender-neutral language.

Flashback: A commission established by the council had recommended big changes in August, which they argued could be put in place before next year's mayoral and city council elections.

The ideas included an expansion of mayoral power, more oversight for the council and, potentially, a new form of government.

Yes, but: City Council members said that they ultimately weren't left with enough time to vet those changes with residents before the General Assembly convenes next month.

And three council members — Reva Trammell, Cynthia Newbille and Ellen Robertson — voted against moving forward with even the scaled back proposal.

Of note: That means any big-picture changes would need to be timed for the 2028 city elections.

The council is only asking the General Assembly to approve two significant changes.

The city is pushing ahead with revisions to the city charter, but none of the<a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text=" sweeping reforms proposed" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/richmond/2023/08/08/richmond-government-charter-recomendations-review" data-vars-content-id="2e635dc2-ca91-4797-ad87-830555edf6c0" data-vars-headline="Richmond seeks to tweak city charter" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/local/richmond/2023/08/08/richmond-government-charter-recomendations-review" target="_self"> sweeping reforms proposed</a> earlier this summer.What&#x27;s happening: The City Council is only asking the General Assembly to approve <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="two significant changes" data-vars-click-url="https://richmondva.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=6417258&amp;GUID=9150A145-F277-4AAD-8BD3-0D5F4D659A2A&amp;Options=&amp;Search=" data-vars-content-id="2e635dc2-ca91-4797-ad87-830555edf6c0" data-vars-headline="Richmond seeks to tweak city charter" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://richmondva.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=6417258&amp;GUID=9150A145-F277-4AAD-8BD3-0D5F4D659A2A&amp;Options=&amp;Search=" target="_blank">two significant changes</a>.

News

Raleigh

Axios Raleigh

A new high speed rail could be coming to North Carolina sooner than expected.

What's happening: The U.S. Department of Transportation will award a $1 billion grant for the construction of a new passenger rail between Raleigh and Richmond, U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis announced Tuesday.

Why it matters: The massive cash infusion is enough to fund a significant portion (but not all) of the work needed to rebuild tracks between the two cities, per rail advocates.

It also brings Raleigh one step closer to having high-speed rail access to Washington D.C.

What they're saying: "This $1 billion grant for North Carolina to make progress on the Raleigh to Richmond Rail Line is a big win for economic development in the region," Tillis said in a statement.

Catch up quick: Last summer, the federal government awarded $58 million toward kickstarting a re-build of the S-Line rail corridor — a line between Raleigh and Richmond that has been out of commission for more than half a century.

"I think it speaks volumes about the need to unclog rail on the East Coast," Danny Plaugher, the director of Virginians for High Speed Rail, told Axios Richmond's Ned Oliver.

He called the grant an unexpected surprise, noting that it was only last year that the project landed the federal grant. That funded engineering work that is just now wrapping up.

Of note: It's too soon to say when the new line might open and how fast it will travel, though Plaugher said the goal for any high-speed service will be to beat travel times by car.

Between the line: Virginia and North Carolina have both seen recent investments in passenger train service pay off, with both states setting ridership records this year.

The big picture: The S-Line would allow for passenger trains to avoid a lot of freight traffic between Raleigh and Richmond and allow for speeds of up to 110 miles per hour.

It would better connect North Carolina to Virginia, D.C. and the Northeast corridor, making trips from faster, easier and more reliable.

And it would contribute to freight and supply chain resiliency in the Southeast, Tillis said.

Raleigh to Richmond's high-speed passenger rail lands $1B grant

A high speed rail between Virginia and North Carolina could be coming sooner than expected.

A new high speed rail could be coming to North Carolina sooner than expected.What&#x27;s happening: The U.S. Department of Transportation will award a $1 billion grant for the construction of a <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="new passenger rail between Raleigh and Richmond" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/raleigh/2022/08/22/commuter-train-raleigh-durham-research-triangle" data-vars-content-id="3f17c0aa-48cf-4cf1-93e9-267ea88871da" data-vars-headline="Raleigh to Richmond&#x27;s high-speed passenger rail lands $1B grant" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/local/raleigh/2022/08/22/commuter-train-raleigh-durham-research-triangle" target="_self">new passenger rail between Raleigh and Richmond</a>, U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis announced Tuesday.Why it matters: The massive cash infusion is enough to fund a significant portion (but not all) of the work needed to rebuild tracks between the two cities, per rail advocates.<ul><li>It also brings Raleigh one step closer to having high-speed rail access to Washington D.C.</li></ul>

Politics

A pair of live chickens seen roaming RIC's parking garages left airport officials puzzled on Thursday.

What they're saying: "We're not sure how they got here, but the leading theory is that someone dropped them off," airport spokesman Troy Bell said.

"It's ruffled a few feathers as it's not a common sight at RIC."

The intrigue: A Reddit user shared a picture of the birds Thursday morning, noting they looked well fed and appeared to be pecking at feed left scattered in the parking lot.

Threat level: The chickens were still roaming free at last report.

”The chickens are proving to be elusive,” Bell said in an email. 

The birds looked something like this. Photo: Xurxo Lobato/Getty Images

A pair of live chickens seen roaming RIC&#x27;s parking garages left airport officials puzzled on Thursday.What they&#x27;re saying: &quot;We&#x27;re not sure how they got here, but the leading theory is that someone dropped them off,&quot; airport spokesman Troy Bell said.

A 2,500-year-old bronze statuette was stolen from an Italian museum in the 1960s.

It turns out it's been sitting in Richmond for decades.

What's happening: The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts announced this week it returned the artifact along with 43 other stolen or looted ancient art objects discovered in its collection.

The repatriation follows a joint investigation by the Department of Homeland Security and the Manhattan District Attorney's Antiquities Trafficking Unit, per an announcement released by the museum this week.

What they're saying: "The clear and compelling evidence presented to VMFA left no doubt that the museum does not hold clear title for these 44 works of ancient art," the VMFA's chief curator, Michael R. Taylor, said in a statement.

"Stolen or looted art has no place in our galleries or collection, so we are delighted to return these works to their countries of origin."

Zoom in: The museum says it received an initial summons in May and met with investigators in October.

The release describes evidence that the objects were stolen as "irrefutable."

The returned artifacts includes an ancient lekythos, an Egyptian cosmetic container and a figure from a south Italian funerary set. Photos: Courtesy VMFA/Travis Fullerton, Katherine Wetzel, David Stover.

Details: The bronze statuette was stolen in 1963 from the Museo Civico Archeologico in Bologna, Italy.

The remaining 43 objects were looted from sites in Italy, Egypt and Turkey "as part of an international criminal conspiracy involving antiquities traffickers, smugglers and art dealers that is being actively investigated," per the museum.

Of note: The VMFA says there was no evidence linking current employees with criminal activity related to the acquisition of the objects, which it says occurred mostly in the 1970s, '80s, and early '90s.

The museum did not respond to a question about whether any former employees had been linked to criminal actions.

The Manhattan District Attorney's office did not respond to an email seeking comment.

The leader of the investigation, Matthew Bogdanos, is well known for his work tracking stolen antiquities.

In a profile earlier this year, he told CBS News that "up until ten years ago, it was considered oh so gauche to ask inconvenient questions of provenance — it just wasn't done."

"Stolen or looted art has no place in our galleries or collection."

A statuette of an Etruscan warrior the VMFA returned to a museum in Bologna, Italy. Photo: Courtesy VMFA/Travis Fullerton

A 2,500-year-old bronze statuette was stolen from an Italian museum in the 1960s.<ul><li>It turns out it&#x27;s been sitting in Richmond for decades.</li></ul>What&#x27;s happening: The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts announced this week it returned the artifact along with 43 other stolen or looted ancient art objects discovered in its collection.

Democrats in the General Assembly are poised to take their first step toward enshrining a right to abortion in the state constitution.

What's happening: When lawmakers convene next month, they'll consider a constitutional amendment establishing a "fundamental right to reproductive freedom."

Yes, but: There's ongoing debate about what it would actually do if passed.

Zoom in: As introduced by an array of prominent Democrats in the General Assembly, the text of the amendment would bar any laws limiting abortion.

The one exception: Measures that seek to protect the person seeking care.

What they're saying: Democrats, who pursued the same amendment last year, have said the measure is intended to preserve the state's existing abortion law.

"It's especially critical right now without federal protections in place," said Jamie Lockhart, the director of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia.

The other side: Republicans argue the amendment would actually have the effect of removing all limits on abortion.

Gov. Glenn Youngkin's PAC accused Democrats, many of whom campaigned on maintaining the status quo, of reneging on a core campaign promise.

Between the lines: Virginia current law restricts abortion during the third trimester of pregnancy to situations where multiple doctors agree a woman's life is at risk.

Republicans argue that limit wouldn't withstand a legal challenge if the constitutional amendment passes.

Of note: A constitutional amendment passed in Ohio last month takes a narrower approach, allowing state restrictions after the point of fetal viability as long as the health of the mother is not in danger.

What's next: Lawmakers will debate the measure when they convene Jan. 10.

Constitutional amendments do not need the governor's signature to be adopted, but would need to be passed during two distinct legislative sessions, with a House of Delegates election in between.

At that point the text would go before a statewide referendum.

Lawmakers next month will consider a constitutional amendment establishing a "fundamental right to reproductive freedom."

Democrats in the General Assembly are poised to take their first step toward enshrining a right to abortion in the state constitution.What&#x27;s happening: When lawmakers convene next month, they&#x27;ll consider <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="a constitutional amendment" data-vars-click-url="http://bit.ly/3T6818V" data-vars-content-id="f30051d1-30e0-45b5-b811-0cf43498d383" data-vars-headline="What Virginia Democrats&#x27; proposed abortion rights constitutional amendment would do" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="http://bit.ly/3T6818V" target="_blank">a constitutional amendment</a> establishing a &quot;fundamental right to reproductive freedom.&quot;

Ned Oliver

Stories

Richmond seeks to tweak city charter

Richmond airport trying to catch loose chickens

VMFA returns dozens of stolen ancient art

Raleigh to Richmond's high-speed passenger rail lands $1B grant

What Virginia Democrats' proposed abortion rights constitutional amendment would do

Newsletter editions

👵 Internships for seniors

🖼 Stolen art returned

🕎 Menorah lighting controversy

🏨 First Fan hotel

🗞 News deserts grow