Where Richmond millennials moved

1 big thing: 🚚 Millennial moves 

2. 💰 Nigerian scammers stole $500k from VCU

Illustration of a repeating pattern of computers with skulls on the screens

3. The Current: Charlottesville attack anniversary

Members of the Charlottesville community gather near a makeshift memorial for Heather Heyer, on the one year anniversary.  image shows a street covered in notes of love

Something new for NASCAR starts in Richmond

4. A new NASCAR

Bubba Wallace takes a selfie with a fan who looks thrilled.

Check out our Job Board

🙌 TGIF. Where are we going for happy hour? (Seriously, we need some new recommendations for good happy hours.)

😎 Today's weather: Sunny, with a high near 82; feels like a normal temperature for humans on Earth. 

Situational awareness: A former police sergeant in Rocky Mount, Va., who was among the first wave of rioters in the Capitol on Jan. 6, was sentenced Thursday to seven years and three months in prison. 

It's the harshest penalty to date in connection with the Jan. 6 insurrection. 

Today's newsletter is 897 words — a 3.5-minute read.

🤦‍♀️ Karri would laugh a lot harder at the VCU scam had she not just this week accidentally replied to a phishing scheme under the guise of a reader in need of help. 

Richmond

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

Axios Richmond

Making room in Richmond's attic

1 big thing: Making room in Richmond's attic

2. Zoom in: lost in the archives

3. The Current: Casino referendum officially nixed

Illustration of an otter reading The Current on his phone while floating down a river.

4. 🚘 Pro-abortion rights plates sell

On the job hunt?

5. 🦆 1 weekend pick: A ducking inclusive race 

5. 🦆 1 weekend pick: a ducking inclusive race 

thousands of yellow rubber ducks in the river

😎 Today's weather: Sunny, with a high near 86.

Today's newsletter is 852 words — a 3-minute read.

☮️ Ned binged the "Woodstock ‘99" documentary on Netflix.

🤭 Karri is liking the Culpeper County Sheriff's Office's highway sign recommendations. #moveover 

1 big thing: Post office closed over segregation exhibit

the outside of an orange building that looks old timey and says montpiler on it.

Richmond's fastest growing companies

2. Richmond's fastest growing companies 

Illustration of three briefcases getting progressively larger

3. The Current: Second Virginia officer sentenced over insurrection

Illustration of the letters rva written in cursive and flowing like a river.

4. D.C. to crack down on weed "gift" shops

Do you see yourself with a new career? 

😎 Today's weather: Mostly sunny, with a high near 82.

Situational awareness: Richmond police chief Gerald Smith broke his silence on the alleged July 4 mass shooting plot Tuesday, sitting down for separate interviews with WTVR, NBC12, WRIC and the RTD.

He mostly reiterated his earlier claims that the plot targeted Dogwood Dell, but said the department “could have communicated things better.”

The interviews, which come a week after he said he was done taking questions, follow criticism of the department’s lack of transparency by local, state and federal elected officials.

Today's newsletter is 896 words — a 3.5-minute read.

👀 Ned is reading about workplace surveillance and the rise of worker productivity scores.

🌅 Karri is sad to learn the sunset is going to start happening earlier than 8pm. Bye, summer. 

Richmond's scorching hot future

1 big thing: 🥵 Feels like 125°F — literally

McEachin refuses to debate election denier

2. 🗳️ McEachin refuses to debate election denier

Illustration of a wrecking ball swinging towards an empty podium. 

3. The Current: Council mulls meeting on Dell plot

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

4. 💸 Streaming costs creep up


New jobs to check out

Richmond restaurant news: Mantu Market opens and more

5. 🌯 Restaurant news: Mantu Market opens and more 

🧉 Happy Tuesday. It's National Rum Day, so if you're not drinking something tiki at 5 o'clock, you're doing life wrong. 

🌦 Today's weather: Partly sunny, with a high near 79 and a slight chance of showers.

Thanks to our members for supporting local journalism. Join them by becoming an Axios Richmond member. 

Today's newsletter is 940 words — a 3.5-minute read.

🤢 Ned might have overdone it just a hair last weekend and will not be observing National Rum Day.

🍹 Karri loves rum drinks but wishes she had a tiki bar in her kitchen and someone else would make them.  

These are Richmond's worst eyesores

1 big thing: Richmond's worst eyesores

A photograph of the James Monroe building dominating Richmond's skyline.

2. Honorable mention: second-place ugly

A photo of a brick parking garage collapsing into a city street.

3. The Current: Drunk driver kills cyclist

Illustration of a lighted sign resembling the Hotel John Marshall sign in Richmond, but that says Axios The Current instead. 

4. 1 palate cleanser to go 

Now hiring: New job openings

⛈ Today's weather: A chance of showers and thunderstorms with a high near 75. 

Today's newsletter is 823 words — a 3-minute read.

🥜 Ned is alarmed to learn some people put peanut butter on their BLTs.

😘 Karri wants readers to know that she had lots of extra thoughts on Richmond eyesores, but she wanted to let readers have this one. 

Democratic Rep. Don McEachin says he's refusing debate invitations until his long-shot GOP opponent acknowledges there was no fraud in the 2020 election.

Context: McEachin, who represents Richmond and Henrico, clobbered conservative activist Leon Benjamin during the 2020 election, winning by a 24-point margin.

But Benjamin refused to concede the election, citing vague claims of voting irregularities.

The latest: Benjamin is challenging McEachin again this year, but McEachin says debates are off the table this time around.

What he's saying: "My victory — and the significant margin — are facts and facts are not fungible," McEachin wrote in a letter to Benjamin. "Until you accept the results of the 2020 election, concede the 2020 congressional race and acknowledge President Biden's victory, I will make no joint appearance with you."

The other side: Benjamin's campaign did not respond to a phone call or email seeking comment on Monday. 

Leon Benjamin is challenging Rep. McEachin again this year, after refusing to concede their 2020 race.

Democratic Rep. Don McEachin says he&#x27;s refusing debate invitations until his long-shot GOP opponent acknowledges there was no fraud in the 2020 election.Context: McEachin, who represents Richmond and Henrico, clobbered conservative activist Leon Benjamin during the 2020 election, <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="winning by a 24-point margin" data-vars-click-url="https://richmond.com/news/state-and-regional/govt-and-politics/mceachin-cruises-in-4th-but-benjamin-wont-concede/article_079d513c-ae52-50d5-9bb4-7d4f1d5783d0.html" data-vars-content-id="1b1bed7e-3007-4d3a-b2ec-a4872e9cc834" data-vars-headline="McEachin refuses to debate election denier" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://richmond.com/news/state-and-regional/govt-and-politics/mceachin-cruises-in-4th-but-benjamin-wont-concede/article_079d513c-ae52-50d5-9bb4-7d4f1d5783d0.html" target="_blank">winning by a 24-point margin</a>.

Politics

Fast food chains across America are going all-in on chicken nuggets, hoping to lure millennials and Gen Zers who favor an on-the-go style, Axios' Jennifer A. Kingson writes.

My thought bubble: Forget nuggets. Tenders are where it's at.  

My go to is Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken on Broad. Their strips are reliable, come with a biscuit and aren't super expensive — $6 gets you two strips, and they almost always put an extra in the box.

And yeah, it's a chain restaurant. But it's also the only location in the state, so whatever.

If you're looking for a high-end tender, try The Cocky Rooster, with locations on Main Street in the Fan and Short Pump. 

A two-piece combo with fries and a coke comes out to more than $17 after tax and tip, but they're crispy, juicy and come with an extensive array of sauces and dips to choose from.

A pile of chicken tenders that look delicious 

Ned's Cocky Rooster lunch. Photo: Ned Oliver/Axios 

Richmond chicken worth giving a cluck: The Cocky Rooster

Forget nuggets. Tenders are where it's at.

Illustration of a mountain of chicken nuggets with a flag planted at the top

Food

Fast food chains across America are going all-in on chicken nuggets, hoping to lure millennials and Gen Zers who favor an on-the-go style, Axios&#x27; <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Jennifer A. Kingson writes" data-vars-click-url="https://link.axios.com/click/28503244.82/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYXhpb3MuY29tLzIwMjIvMDcvMjUvY2hpY2tlbi1udWdnZXQtd2Fycz91dG1fc291cmNlPW5ld3NsZXR0ZXImdXRtX21lZGl1bT1lbWFpbCZ1dG1fY2FtcGFpZ249c2VuZHRvX2xvY2FsbmV3c2xldHRlcnRlc3Qmc3RyZWFtPXRvcA/6282c6b6499e2c3304736ec1Baad35ae0/email" data-vars-content-id="535c1eff-809b-4063-a89a-0fc48823c5b1" data-vars-headline="Richmond chicken worth giving a cluck: The Cocky Rooster" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://link.axios.com/click/28503244.82/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYXhpb3MuY29tLzIwMjIvMDcvMjUvY2hpY2tlbi1udWdnZXQtd2Fycz91dG1fc291cmNlPW5ld3NsZXR0ZXImdXRtX21lZGl1bT1lbWFpbCZ1dG1fY2FtcGFpZ249c2VuZHRvX2xvY2FsbmV3c2xldHRlcnRlc3Qmc3RyZWFtPXRvcA/6282c6b6499e2c3304736ec1Baad35ae0/email" target="_blank">Jennifer A. Kingson writes</a>.My thought bubble: Forget nuggets. Tenders are where it&#x27;s at.

Food and Drink

The U.S. Postal Service abruptly closed a rural Virginia post office in a historic train depot over objections to an exhibition highlighting the building’s segregated past.

What’s happening: The Montpelier Depot outside of Orange, Virginia, has housed a post office for 110 years.

The other half of the building once served as a waiting area for passengers and, more recently, was transformed into an exhibit on Jim Crow-era segregation, which included the reinstallation of signs over the once-segregated entrances — one labeled “White,” the other labeled “Colored.”

What they’re saying: USPS spokesperson Philip Bogenberger said in a statement to Axios that the 12-year-old exhibit only recently came to the attention of the postal service’s senior management.

He said USPS worries customers may conflate the segregated entrances to the exhibit with the post office’s operations on the other side of the small building, and “thereby draw negative associations between those operations and the painful legacy of discrimination and segregation that marked prior historical eras.”

The other side: The Montpelier Foundation, which oversees the estate of James Madison and also owns the nearby depot, says it was blindsided by the post office’s sudden closure in June.

Interim-CEO Elizabeth Chew tells Axios that Montpelier first heard about it from customers, and the only explanation the group has received to date came via a statement USPS provided to the Culpeper Star-Exponent, which first reported the closure earlier this week.

Why it matters: The dispute presents yet another example of difficult conversations that continue to surround racial reconciliation and remembrance. 

It’s an issue the Montpelier Foundation has struggled with in a very public way after initially failing to make good on a promise to offer descendants of people formerly enslaved at the estate equal representation on its board. 

What’s next: Bogenberger says USPS is trying to find “suitable alternative quarters in the community” for the office, which he says had one employee and operated for four hours a day.

Meanwhile, the Montpelier Foundation has no plans to alter the exhibit’s entrance signs, which Chew says are clearly contextualized with signage throughout.

“It’s such a basic point of the exhibition, to show how the Jim Crow segregation works,” she says. “The doors are clearly labeled, white and colored, and the facilities are so clearly not equal. That’s the whole point of the exhibition.”

USPS closes Virginia post office over exhibit on segregation

The display restored racially segregated entrances.

A photo of the entrance to the Montpelier depot, with two segregated entrances to the historic passenger waiting area.

The Montpelier Depot. Photo: Ron Cogswell/Flickr

Race

The U.S. Postal Service abruptly closed a rural Virginia post office in a historic train depot over objections to an exhibition highlighting the building’s segregated past.What’s happening: <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="The Montpelier Depot" data-vars-click-url="https://www.virginia.org/listing/the-historic-montpelier-train-station/192/" data-vars-content-id="da8709f5-11df-4866-8ca6-92578b52b3f1" data-vars-headline="USPS closes Virginia post office over exhibit on segregation" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.virginia.org/listing/the-historic-montpelier-train-station/192/" target="_blank">The Montpelier Depot</a> outside of Orange, Virginia, has housed a post office for 110 years.

News

Richmond's biggest eyesore also happens to be its tallest building, according to Axios Richmond readers.

State of play: We asked you to point out the ugliest buildings in our charming little city, and from dozens of suggestions, a clear consensus emerged.

You really hate the state-owned James Monroe Building — all 29 stories of it.

The design looks dated in that bad 1970s way.

And it's always felt a little off balance, with that big parking garage podium designed to hold a second tower the state never built.

What you're saying: "I want to pluck it from the skyline like a friendly giant and restore balance and beauty. Start over," writes reader Bruce C.

Well, we have some good news: The state is considering demolishing the building, which currently houses the Department of Education, and building a new tower on Main Street across from the lottery building.

But the project is still in the early planning phase, and any final decision is at least a few years off, Department of General Services spokesperson Dena Potter tells Axios.

So, we guess just keep making sure your elected reps know how you feel about it.

A photo of boarded up buildings on Broad Street.

Boarded up on Broad. Photo: Ned Oliver/Axios

You're also sick of seeing that dead block on Broad Street downtown.

We all know the one. The buildings have been boarded up for more than a decade, even as neighboring storefronts come back to life.

Almost all of them are owned by D.C.-based Douglas Development, which made the acquisitions in the mid-2000s.

What's next: Douglas Development didn't respond to an inquiry from Axios, but the company has slowly been redeveloping other properties it owns in the area, including the nearby Clay Market building.

"Our plan is to revitalize all of our assets on Broad Street. This is the kickoff," a company representative told BizSense in April.

A photo of a canal bed mostly empty of water and filled with weeds.

A very historic, very overgrown canal. Photo: Ned Oliver/Axios

OK, we'll admit, this one is a wild card, but reader Zane Bernard convinced us: The Kanawha Canal is, in a lot of places, an unsightly ditch.

No one is saying we should go and rip up the historic, earthen structure, which was conceived by George Washington, begun in 1785 and at one point stretched all the way to Botetourt County.

What you're saying: "I am willing to die on the hill that the Kanawha Canal should be renovated and restored to full function," writes Bernard.

He feels so strongly about it that he published his full note to us for all to ponder.

Y'all flagged a lot of blight. Here are some other suggestions that resonated.

A photo of a brick building collapsing into a city street.

This parking garage has been actively falling into the street for three years. Photo: Ned Oliver/Axios

That parking garage downtown at Sixth and Franklin streets that has been literally collapsing into the street for three years.

We're going to circle back to this one after we get some answers about what's going on.

Why has a beautiful island on the James been relegated to surface parking lots and an abandoned recycling center?

Reader Barry G. suggests it would be a great home for the Kickers.

And yes, the Coliseum is not looking so hot.

The city is actively working to find someone to demolish it and build something else.

You really hate the state's James Monroe Building — all 29 stories of it.

The James Monroe Building: really tall and really ugly. Photo: Ned Oliver/Axios

Richmond&#x27;s biggest eyesore also happens to be its tallest building, according to Axios Richmond readers.State of play: We asked you to point out the ugliest buildings in our charming little city, and from dozens of suggestions, a clear consensus emerged.

The FBI says it’s secured the extradition of three Nigerian citizens accused of tricking Virginia Commonwealth University into wiring them almost $500,000.

What’s happening: The ploy was a little more sophisticated than the run-of-the-mill “Nigerian prince” scam, according to charging documents.

The men allegedly impersonated an employee at Kjellstrom and Lee, a major local construction firm that’s built an array of big projects for the school.

Corresponding via email, they convinced a VCU employee to transfer $469,819 to an overseas account, claiming their local bank was tied up in an audit.

“Please kindly notify us before our next payment is issued,” the scammers wrote.

Details: VCU sent the wire transfer in December 2018 and didn’t get word there might be a problem until contacted by its bank the following month.

By then, nearly all of the money was gone, according to court records.

What they're saying: “Through insurance, VCU recovered a significant amount of the funds. Additional safeguards were put in place to protect against this type of fraud,” university spokesman Brian McNeill tells Axios.

The FBI said in a press release that the three men also perpetrated similar scams against universities, local governments and construction companies in North Carolina and Texas, stealing more than $5 million.

How Nigerian scammers stole $500k from VCU

Email was involved, but it wasn't a garden-variety scam.

College

The FBI says it’s secured the extradition of three Nigerian citizens accused of tricking Virginia Commonwealth University into wiring them almost $500,000.What’s happening: The ploy was a little more sophisticated than the run-of-the-mill “Nigerian prince” scam, according to <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="charging documents" data-vars-click-url="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.vaed.464016/gov.uscourts.vaed.464016.7.0_1.pdf" data-vars-content-id="f3d8de3a-8408-4865-b759-dcec314df663" data-vars-headline="How Nigerian scammers stole $500k from VCU" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.vaed.464016/gov.uscourts.vaed.464016.7.0_1.pdf" target="_blank">charging documents</a>.<ul><li>The men allegedly impersonated an employee at <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Kjellstrom and Lee" data-vars-click-url="https://www.kjellstromandlee.com/" data-vars-content-id="f3d8de3a-8408-4865-b759-dcec314df663" data-vars-headline="How Nigerian scammers stole $500k from VCU" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.kjellstromandlee.com/" target="_blank">Kjellstrom and Lee</a>, a major local construction firm that’s built an array of big projects for the school.</li><li>Corresponding via email, they convinced a VCU employee to transfer $469,819 to an overseas account, claiming their local bank was tied up in an audit.</li><li>“Please kindly notify us before our next payment is issued,” the scammers wrote.</li></ul>Details: VCU sent the wire transfer in December 2018 and didn’t get word there might be a problem until contacted by its bank the following month.<ul><li>By then, nearly all of the money was gone, according to court records.</li></ul>What they&#x27;re saying: “Through insurance, VCU recovered a significant amount of the funds. Additional safeguards were put in place to protect against this type of fraud,” university spokesman Brian McNeill tells Axios.<ul><li>The FBI said in a <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="press release" data-vars-click-url="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/three-nigerian-nationals-extradited-united-states-united-kingdom-participating-business-email" data-vars-content-id="f3d8de3a-8408-4865-b759-dcec314df663" data-vars-headline="How Nigerian scammers stole $500k from VCU" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/three-nigerian-nationals-extradited-united-states-united-kingdom-participating-business-email" target="_blank">press release</a> that the three men also perpetrated similar scams against universities, local governments and construction companies in North Carolina and Texas, stealing more than $5 million.</li></ul>

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Stories

USPS closes Virginia post office over exhibit on segregation

McEachin refuses to debate election denier

These are Richmond's worst eyesores

How Nigerian scammers stole $500k from VCU

Richmond chicken worth giving a cluck: The Cocky Rooster

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🙈 Richmond's worst eyesores

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