Democratic Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney is withdrawing from the 2025 race for Virginia governor and is instead throwing his hat in the ring for Lieutenant Governor.

Democratic gubernatorial candidate and current Mayor of Richmond, Levar Stoney made a campaign stop in Roanoke ahead of the election in 2025.

Democratic gubernatorial candidate and current US Representative, Abigail Spanberger made a campaign stop in Roanoke.

Democratic Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney announced Monday that he will run for Virginia governor in 2025.

Former Virginia House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn has decided against a bid for governor in 2025 and will instead run next year to represent the competitive northern Virginia congressional seat being vacated by a fellow Democratic lawmaker.

Police say two people have been killed and five more wounded in a shooting after a high school graduation ceremony in Virginia’s capital.

Friday night a familiar face was among the community leaders recognized during the Roanoke Branch NAACP’s 23rd Annual Citizen of the Year Awards.

Former Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax says he recently met with the FBI to discuss his concerns about the two 2019 sexual assault allegations against him.

Two boys were killed and two men were seriously injured in a shooting at a convenience store in Richmond on Friday night.

Virginia's capital city is instituting a vaccine mandate for most of its several thousand employees.

The project would improve water quality and keep water bills from going up

The Richmond City Council has voted to hold a referendum on building a casino.

As recently as a few years ago, the removal of Richmond’s collection of Confederate monuments seemed nearly impossible, even as other tributes to rebel leaders around the U.S. started falling. Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney and the city council committed to removing the statues, something the Democrat-led General Assembly had authorized earlier in the year. Henry said the city’s Department of Public Works asked him in mid-June if he would be interested in the statue project. Stuart’s statue, Henry mused about his participation in two very different projects reflecting this moment in the story of race and America. And he helped remove the Richmond statues, which he called tools of oppression against Black Americans.

RICHMOND, Va. – The Republican Party of Virginia’s headquarters was vandalized overnight in Richmond, according to the organization. “Under cover of darkness on Thursday night, the violent wave of crime that has infected Richmond for months struck again with a violent, cowardly, and unprovoked attack on the state headquarters of the Republican Party of Virginia," said RPV Chairman Rich Anderson. Ralph Northam, as well as Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney, to take action against this incident. There is no information about the suspects involved available yet. Below is the full statement from Anderson:

RICHMOND, Va. The city of Richmond, Virginia, will be soliciting ideas for what to do with the Confederate monuments that have been taken down and placed in storage. The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported Monday that the City Council will allow museums, historical societies and others to submit proposals. "We really need to figure out what we can do with these statues," said Chris Hilbert, the council's vice president. Demonstrators began tearing down the statues, including one depicting Confederate President Jefferson Davis. The City Council voted on Monday to permanently remove the statues that are being held in storage.

All rights reserved)RICHMOND, Va. Riots in downtown Richmond over the weekend were instigated by white supremacists under the guise of Black Lives Matter, according to law enforcement officials. Protesters tore down police tape and pushed forward toward Richmond police headquarters, where they set a city dump truck on fire. The mayor of Richmond thanked the Black Lives Matter protesters he said tried to stop the white supremacists from spearheading the violence. Their mission is simple, not the Richmond we know, said Mayor Levar Stoney. Besides the police department, damage also occurred in and around the VCU campus.

Stuart says he wants to bring his ancestor's statue from Richmond to the cavalryman's birthplace in Patrick County in southwest Virginia. Stuart V, a Richmond orthopedic surgeon, formally asked Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney and the City Council on Monday to allow the transfer of the statue to the J.E.B. Stuart Birthplace Preservation Trust Inc., the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports. Stuart made clear this week that he has no interest in the statue returning to the perch it had held on Monument Avenue since 1907. The trust was established in 1991 to manage Laurel Hill on 75 acres of what had been a 1,500-farm at Ararat, near Mount Airy, North Carolina.

RICHMOND, Va. – On Richmond's Monument Avenue, the collection of towering statues honoring Confederate veterans was interrupted by one noticeably different: a monument to Black tennis legend and civil rights activist Arthur Ashe. Arthur Ashe monument vandalized in Richmond, Virginia, on June 17, 2020 (NBC12)But after someone painted "White Lives Matter" on Ashe's statue, city officials considered a request from Ashe's family to temporarily remove the statue to protect it. On July 1, Stoney ordered the immediate removal of all city-owned Confederate statues in Richmond, a onetime capital of the Confederacy. The only Confederate statue that remains on Monument Avenue is a memorial to Gen. Robert E. Lee located on state property. Harris said he believes his uncle's statue "stands for everything the people are working for right now."

RICHMOND, Va. – No more Confederate monuments will be taken down in Richmond, for at least 60 days, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Richmond Circuit Court Judge Bradley C. Cavedo issued a 60-day injunction which stops the city from removing any more Confederate monuments. The city began removing statues last week, after a new Virginia law went into effect. Rather than go through the process detailed in the law, Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney ordered the immediate removal of the statues, citing the continuing demonstrations and concerns that protesters could get hurt if they tried to bring down the enormous statues themselves. The Times-Dispatch reports Cavedo is the same judge who blocked the removal of the city’s Robert E. Lee statue, which sits on state-owned land.

RICHMOND, Va. Work crews were back at work Thursday removing Confederate monuments from Virginia's capital city, a process that began last week after Mayor Levar Stoney ordered all city-owned Confederate statues cleared away amid weeks of protests over police brutality and racism. Crews returned to the site of a monument honoring Confederate naval commander and scientist Matthew Fontaine Maury. The Maury statue was unveiled in 1929 the last of five Confederate statues erected on Richmonds Monument Avenue. The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that a Confederate heritage group wants to display the statues on private property. Richmonds largest statue left standing is on state land the massive monument to Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.

The Confederate Soldiers & Sailors Monument is shown in Libby Hill Park Wednesday July 8, 2020, in Richmond, Va. The statue is one of several that will be removed by the city as part of the Black Lives Matter reaction. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)RICHMOND, Va. Work crews have begun taking down the Confederate Soldiers and Sailors statue, the sixth Confederate monument to be removed in Richmond amid national protests against police brutality and symbols many see as racist icons. Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney, citing his emergency powers on July 1, ordered the removal of all city-owned Confederate statues. Richmond's largest statue left standing is on state land the massive monument to Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.

EDS NOTE: OBSCENITY - The statue of Confederate General J.E.B. Stuart is covered in graffiti on Monument Avenue, Monday, July 6, 2020, in Richmond, Va. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)RICHMOND, Va. Work crews have begun taking down an enormous monument to Confederate Gen. J.E.B. The Stuart monument is one of several targeted by protesters in Richmond since the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25 prompted nationwide demonstrations. The Stuart statue has been the last major statue left, other than a massive statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee that's located on state land.

RICHMOND, Va. United States Sen. Tim Kaine said Monday he supports Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney taking down Confederate monuments in Richmond. As of July 1, a new state law allows localities to decide what to do with their monuments. However, the new law requires a process, but Stoney said they can be removed immediately for safety, due to the citys current state of emergency. Kaine said recent conversations with African Americans have helped him realize the monuments are more than a symbol of a painful history. Stoney said the monuments will be held in storage until the legal process for removing them plays out.

(AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)RICHMOND, Va. Just a little over a month ago, the area around Richmond's iconic statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee was as quiet and sedate as the statue itself. Clashes between police and protesters gathered near the statue have become a regular occurrence. The statue is located on Richmonds Monument Avenue, a boulevard of stately homes that also features several other Confederate monuments targeted for removal. At the Lee statue, a new vibe has emerged alongside the raucous atmosphere of protests, one that is more reminiscent of the hippie love and peace festivals of the 1960s. A group of civilian volunteers armed with handguns and rifles has been patrolling the area near the statue to keep protesters safe.

RICHMOND, Va. Work crews removed a second Confederate statue in Richmond on Thursday, a monument to Navy officer Matthew Fontaine Maury. The Maury statue, unveiled in 1929, depicts Maury seated in a chair with a large globe above him. It was the last of five Confederate monuments erected on Richmond's famed Monument AvenueMaury headed the coast, harbor and river defenses for the Confederate Navy. Richmond - the formal capital of the Confederacy - has about a dozen Confederate statues. Protesters tore down a statue of Confederate President Jefferson Davis last month.

RICHMOND, Va. – Richmond is wasting no time removing a Confederate monument. On July 1, localities gained the power to remove, relocate, contextualize, or cover any monument or memorial for war veterans on the locality’s public property. However, the new law requires a process, which is not happening here. Due to the state of emergency that Richmond is currently under, Mayor Levar Stoney said it’s within his power to remove the statue as he believes is poses a safety risk.

An order issued by the state's high court Monday said courts may resume hearing eviction cases on June 29. Ralph Northam to issue an executive order to prevent landlords from moving forward on eviction proceedings in court. We're asking for enough time to establish a robust rent relief program - one that is sufficiently funded and addresses all of the needs of Virginia," Poon said. Northam asked earlier this month that the eviction ban be extended to give his administration time to announce a rent relief program. He said those cases will move forward if the eviction moratorium is not extended.

(AP Photo/Steve Helber)RICHMOND, Va. A judge on Thursday indefinitely extended an injunction preventing the Virginia governor from removing a historic statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from Richmonds famed Monument Avenue. The 12-ton (11 metric-ton), 21-foot-tall (6.4-meter-tall) statue has stood in a prominent spot along Monument Avenue since 1890. The Lee statue in Richmond has become a rallying point for demonstrators during more than two weeks of protests. The Lee statue is one of five Confederate monuments along Monument Avenue, a National Historic Landmark district. The Lee statue is on state property.

RICHMOND, Va. – Police in Virginia's capital city fired chemical agents at demonstrators who gathered late Sunday and early Monday to protest a previous incident in which a police car drove into a crowd, according to news reports. Hundreds of people marched from a Richmond park to the downtown police headquarters on Sunday night and engaged in an hourslong standoff with officers. The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported that police first shot a chemical agent, which the newspaper said was pepper spray, into the crowd around 10 p.m. Sunday. Virginia State Police were eventually called in to support Richmond officers, the newspaper said. Stoney and the department both apologized for the actions in that instance and promised the officers involved would be disciplined.

People stand around the fallen Christopher Columbus statue at the Minnesota state Capitol in St. Paul, Minn., Wednesday, June 10, 2020. In Bristol, England, demonstrators over the weekend toppled a statue of 17th-century slave trader Edward Colston and threw it in the harbor. On Wednesday night, protesters pulled down a century-old statue of Confederate President Jefferson Davis in Richmond, Virginia, the former capital of the Confederacy. Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney, who has proposed dismantling all Confederate statues in the city, asked protesters not to take matters into their own hands for their own safety. Andrew Cuomo, who is Italian American, said he opposes removal of a statue of Columbus in Manhattans Columbus Circle.

The statues on the Confederate monument are covered in graffiti and beheaded after a protest in Portsmouth, Va., Wednesday, June 10, 2020. Protesters beheaded and then pulled down four statues that were part of a Confederate monument. The spokesman for the Virginia division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, B. Frank Earnest, condemned the toppling of public works of art and likened losing the Confederate statues to losing a family member. For protesters mobilized by Floyds death, the targets have ranged far beyond the Confederacy. Andrew Cuomo, who is Italian American, said he opposes removal of a statue of Columbus in Manhattans Columbus Circle.

A rope had been tied around the Confederate statue, which has stood since 1891, The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported, adding that someone urinated on the statue after it was pulled down. Confederate monuments are a major flashpoint in Virginia and elsewhere in the South. Those statues sit on city land, unlike the Lee statue, which is on state property. Thats when a new law goes into effect, which was signed earlier this year by Northam, that undoes an existing state law protecting Confederate monuments and instead lets local governments decide their fate. Wickhams statue stood in Monroe Park, about a mile away from the Lee statue and surrounded by the Virginia Commonwealth University campus.

After Stoney spoke for a bit, he left the podium to Northam, who announced the decision to remove the Robert E. Lee statue from its prominent place in Richmond. Robert E. Lee statue in Richmond Shayne Dwyer is live at Richmond's Robert E. Lee statue where a crowd is growing following Gov. Posted by WSLS 10 / WSLS.com on Thursday, June 4, 2020On Thursday morning, Northam discussed Virginia’s history and the history of the statue of Robert E. Lee in Richmond. The department released this statement Thursday afternoon:“Governor Ralph Northam today directed the Department of General Services to remove the state-owned Robert E. Lee Monument in Richmond. Robert E. Lee IV, a distant nephew of the Confederate general, Robert Johns and Zyahna Bryant spoke during the news conference.

Protesters sit near the statue of Robert E. Lee on Monument Avenue in Richmond, Va., Wednesday, June 3, 2020. As for the Lee statue, Northam and his predecessor, fellow Democrat Terry McAuliffe, have not previously pressed the issue. The statues on Monument Avenue are among the most prominent collection of tributes to the Confederacy in the nation. A statue of black tennis hero Arthur Ashe, a Richmond native, was erected on Monument Avenue in 1996. "The Lee statue was a constant reminder to Black Virginians of racism, dehumanization, and hate that exists and was prevalent throughout our historyA descendant of Lee, the Rev.

RICHMOND, Va. Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney announced plans to remove the other Confederate monuments along Monument Avenue, which include statues of Confederate President Jefferson Davis and Confederate Gens. Ralph Northam is expected to announce plans to remove the Lee statue on Thursday. Stoney said he would introduce an ordinance July 1 to have the statues removed. Starting July 1, localities gain the ability to remove, relocate, or contextualize the monuments in their communities. Richmond is no longer the Capital of the Confederacy - it is filled with diversity and love for all - and we need to demonstrate that.

Governor Northam authorized a curfew in Richmond at the request of Mayor Levar Stoney on Sunday morning. Northam also put the National Guard on alert. Richmond police said a man was shot as violent protests erupted Saturday night. I spoke with Mayor Levar Stoney throughout the night; pursuant to the Mayors requests, I have authorized a curfew in Richmond and placed the Virginia National Guard on alert. They stand ready to assist in protecting our residents, businesses, especially small and black-owned businesses, and the capital city.

RICHMOND, Va. On Tuesday, Gov. Ralph Northam rejected a request from Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney to mandate that the citys churches, barber shops and hair salons stay closed when the city begins its gradual reopening Friday. The governor previously allowed Richmond, northern Virginia and Accomack County on the Eastern Shore to delay reopening with the rest of the state. BREAKING: @GovernorVA denied @LevarStoney request for modified phase one. @NBC12 pic.twitter.com/0aZXSYTucf Henry Graff (@HenryGraff) May 26, 2020Northam said in a letter sent Tuesday afternoon that the states guidelines for Richmonds reopening should operate under the same provisions that will apply to all 138 Virginia localities.