The mother of a Huguenot High School student fatally shot after his graduation repeatedly warned RPS officials that people were trying to kill him, according to a new report into last year's mass shooting.

The big picture: Whether the shooting could have been prevented wasn't part of this investigation, but thousands of pages of emails, documents and nearly 30 interview transcripts revealed three main issues in the district's safety protocols.

• RPS staff members were aware of threats against 18-year-old Shawn Jackson but did not report them to administrators or law enforcement.
• Jackson was a homebound student because his mother, Tameeka Jackson-Smith, feared for his safety and mental health, and per RPS policy, wasn't supposed to be at any school-sponsored events.
• It's unclear whether the metal detectors were functioning properly and if all graduates and attendees went through them.

Between the lines: The 32-page report conducted by a third-party law firm likely wouldn't have been released if the Times-Dispatch and CBS6 hadn't sued the school board for it and won.

• The board received the report in November, four months after the mass shooting outside of the Altria Theater killed Jackson and his 36-year-old stepfather, Renzo Smith, and wounded an additional five people via gunfire.
• The alleged shooter's trial begins on Feb. 26.

RPS officials said they're taking the following steps to "further safeguard" students and staff:

• Updating policies on who can authorize students to participate in graduation.
• Revising security protocols for all student events, including graduation.
• Updating security infrastructure, including cameras, access control systems and metal detectors.

Yes, but: The success of these policies can depend on whether staff uses and knows about them, said Jaclyn Schildkraut, executive director at the Regional Gun Violence Research Consortium.

Dive deeper into the findings

For the second time in recent weeks, the U.S. Postal Service has refused to hold a town hall in Richmond to address residents' mail delivery concerns.

Driving the news: The latest request to hold a forum came from Virginia Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner and Rep. Jennifer McClellan, WTVR reports.

• Their request came after USPS declined to show up for a town hall the city's Commonwealth's Attorney Colette McEachin scheduled last month.

Why it matters: Resident continue to report mail issues, all over town, including undelivered mail, lost packages, late jury summonses and mail theft since at least last year, per WRIC.

• The commonwealth's attorney office "has received literally hundreds of emails, Facebook posts, texts [and] phone calls," McEachin told the station.

Zoom in: In their letter to the Virginia district USPS manager, lawmakers noted one Richmonder whose package was held for six weeks before delivery.

• In another instance, they said a Bellevue business owner is racking up credit card late fees because her outgoing payments are never delivered.
• In Church Hill, locals say their neighborhood post office closes on random days or sometimes for weeks at a time with no notice, NBC12 reported.
• And 8th District Richmond City Council member Reva Trammell told the Times-Dispatch last week the city threatened to cut off her water because it hadn't received payments she mailed in for her monthly utility bill.

What we're watching: If USPS won't meet with the public, McEachin is now calling on the organization to at least communicate with her office so they can better respond to Richmonders' concerns.

Full story

📚 The Hanover County School Board will delay until late February updates to its library book policies after board members and the public failed to agree on proposed changes at a meeting this week. (WRIC)

• The February meeting will be closed to the public.

🤑 The University of Richmond is seeking $51 million from the state to renovate a library, convert an academic building into housing and upgrade a steam plant. (BizSense)

🎖 VCU is asking the state to pay for a program that currently waives tuition and fees for spouses and children of killed or disabled military service members. (Commonwealth Times)

🦪 Lillian Oyster Hall, the new oyster and cocktail bar from the Lost Letter team, opens tonight at 4pm in Scott's Addition. (Instagram)

Hatch Local Food Hall will shut down at the end of March and transition to a new food business incubator model.

What's happening: The public facing portion of the Manchester food hall will end March 31 as Hatch moves to a new business focused on mentorship and educational resources that help local food and beverage entrepreneurs develop their business plans.

Why it matters: Hatch Local was Richmond's first and only food hall.

What they're saying: The group wanted to announce the change early to give vendors time to plan their next steps, Bernard Harkless with Hatch owner Lynx Ventures tells Axios.

• The group will also work with the existing food hall tenants to "to ensure their future success," which may include continued takeout and delivery out of Hatch for some of the vendors.

Flashback: Lynx opened Hatch Local at 400 Hull St. in March 2022 as an extension of Hatch Kitchen, its nearby commercial kitchen space that rents workspace for local food startups.

• With the food hall, the group hoped to give burgeoning restaurateurs exposure and an opportunity to refine and scale their concepts.

The bottom line: When Hatch Local closes, Richmond will be without a food hall once more.

• Until then, it and its six current restaurant tenants will be open for business.

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