
Personality: Lynne B. Hughes
Spotlight on Comfort Zone Camp founder
When Lynne B. Hughes lost her mother and father at the age of 9 and 12, respectively, she struggled to find help after their deaths.

‘Matunda ya kwanza’
Cheick Hamala Diabate (above) performs with the Elegba Folklore Drummers on Saturday, Dec. 30, at the Greater Richmond Convention Center where thousands attended the 33rd Annual Capital City Kwanzaa Festival presented by The Elegba Folklore Society.

Moses, Ferrell in NFL spotlight
The NFL’s upper echelon has a Richmond look. A pair of Richmond natives went head-to-head Christmas night in what was among the season’s most viewed games with 27.2 million TV viewers.

City demands $37,000 from takeout restaurant
City Hall is demanding that a Black-owned Richmond sandwich shop pay $37,000 in uncollected meals tax along with penalties and interest after telling the owners not collect the tax when they applied for a business license in June 2021.

Plagiarism charges down Harvard’s president; a conservative attack helped to fan the outrage
American higher education has long viewed plagiarism as a cardinal sin. Accusations of academic dishonesty have ruined the careers of faculty and undergraduates alike. The latest target is Harvard President Claudine Gay, who resigned Tuesday. In her case, the outrage came not from her academic peers but her political foes, led by conservatives who put her career under intense scrutiny.

Personality: Milton Vice
Spotlight on South Richmond Adult Day Care Center board president
After his father died in 2015, Milton Vice, in the midst of his grief, wanted to contribute to his community. A few months later, he joined the board of the South Richmond Adult Day Care Center.

From liberated to liberators
‘March forward in God’s name,’ Rev. A. Lincoln James Jr. proclaims on Emancipation Day
“March forward,” the Rev. A. Lincoln James Jr. told about 125 people at the New Year’s Day program celebrating the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation, the great Civil War document that took the first big step toward abolishing slavery in this country.

Policy issues involving machine games, guns and minors to greet General Assembly
Will Virginia continue to raise the minimum wage? Will the sale of marijuana through retail outlets gain approval? Will a ban on “skill” games be replaced by a taxing regime that would allow the machines to be turned on once more in bars and retail stores? Will gun owners be held criminally responsible if a minor takes their weapon and shoots someone?

3 Richmond Symphony concerts highlight MLK
The Richmond Symphony has scheduled three concerts leading up to the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday, which is Jan. 15.

Tens of thousands hospitalized for COVID-19, respiratory illnesses
As seasonal virus activity surges across the United States, experts stress the importance of preventive measures – such as masking and vaccination – and the value of treatment for those who do get sick, according to CNN News.

Nye, Lambert are new council officers
Kristen M. Nye thanked her City Council colleagues “for your vote of confidence” after being elected the new City Council president.

Husband and wife retire as credit union leaders
A husband and wife who each ran Richmond-based credit unions have stepped down.

Severely injured man waits 78 minutes for ambulance
J. Maurice Hopkins found out the hard way that the Richmond Ambulance Authority and the emergency dispatch system does not always respond quickly.

Al Sharpton’s organizes picket outside offices of Claudine Gay’s attacker
‘We’ll make ourselves at home outside his office’ says NAN leader
Rev. Al Sharpton, founder and president of the National Action Network (NAN), who last month stood by former Harvard President Claudine Gay as she came under relentless attacks from hedge fund billionaire Bill Ackman, will add another layer to his support of her on Thursday.

More shelters in place
Ask Mayor Levar M. Stoney about the unsheltered people in the city, and he’ll tell you the city is doing a bang-up job of addressing the need.

Making America laugh, look at itself, by Clarence Page
For many of us old enough to remember Archie Bunker’s living room chair before it became a Smithsonian Museum exhibit, Norman Lear helped television comedy get over its fear of real life.

Black women and pay inequality, by David W. Marshall
Taraji P. Henson is speaking out, and people are listening. It remains to be seen if the award-winning actor will become a catalyst for major changes within the entertainment industry, but her message is much needed.

Biden and Trump poised for a potential rematch that could shake American politics
U.S. presidential elections have been rocked in recent years by economic disaster, stunning gaffes, secret video and a pandemic. But for all the tumult that defined those campaigns, the volatility surrounding this year’s presidential contest has few modern parallels, posing profound challenges to the future of American democracy.

Rams’ ‘Odometer’ clicking upward
Virginia Commonwealth University’s eight-game homestand – among the longest in school history – ends Saturday with a 4 p.m. tipoff against Atlantic 10 rival George Washington University.