
City Hall to be draped in 16-story art project ‘Freedom Constellations’
Huge, dramatic banners soon will cover two sides of City Hall.

Community members call for School Board to work with city on new George Wythe
The George Wythe High School community has a clear and strong message for the Richmond School Board: George Wythe can’t wait; build a new high school now.

Virginia hopes to remove time capsule along with Lee statue
If a court clears the way, the state of Virginia expects to remove not just a soaring statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from Richmond’s historic Monument Avenue, but also a little-known piece of history tucked inside the massive sculpture’s base: A 134-year-old time capsule.

Judge Roger Gregory to speak June 30 in virtual session on African-American women and equal access to education
Judge Roger Gregory, chief judge of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and Beth Hopkins, retired professor at Wake Forest University School of Law, will speak at 7 p.m. Wednesday, June 30, on “African- American Women: The Road to Brown & Beyond.”

Coach Willard Bailey inducted into Black College Football Hall of Fame
It was a long climb, but Willard Bailey has reached the apex of college football coaching.

COGIC church gets whopping tax bill after city revokes tax-exempt status
A Richmond church that has been in operation for 112 years has been hit with a surprise $46,128 property tax bill from City Hall after its tax-exempt status was revoked.

RPS career educator and principal Fred A. Cooper dies at 91
Fred Adolphus Cooper sought to inspire students to learn during his nearly 60-year career as an educator that included service as principal of Richmond’s former Armstrong-Kennedy High School complex and later as co-owner of a student tutorial business in Chicago.

Personality: Marquis D. Mapp
Spotlight on board chair of Virginia Pride
Virginia Pride has emerged in the decades since its founding in the 1970s as a major force bringing awareness of the LGBTQIA+ community to Richmond and around the state, as well as promoting diversity and unity among the local LGBTIA+ community.

The dope on marijuana
Here’s what’s legal and what’s not in Virginia beginning Thursday, July 1
Potheads, rejoice. Smoking a joint will be legal in Virginia beginning next Thursday, July 1.

Unbridled joy
RPS’ first full graduation since COVID-19 brings smiles, cheers and joy at The Diamond
Huguenot High School’s graduation Monday was a day to remember — the first Richmond Public Schools gradu- ates to walk across a stage and receive their diplomas in a traditional, big group ceremony since the pandemic hit in March 2020.

Ambulance Authority struggling to keep up with calls
The Richmond Ambulance Authority has long boasted of being a role model in emergency response.

Fair and equal representation needed among food vendors at NFL team training camp
Letters to the Editor
Re “Washington Football playing again at Richmond camp in July,” Free Press June 10-12 edition: It was announced that the Washington Football Team will open training camp from July 27 through 31 here in Richmond.

Southern history and Confederate monuments
Letters to the Editor
It is time to call the truth to that which is argued as “Southern history.”

The gender pay gap by Dr. E. Faye Williams
The postponed and rescheduled 2020 Olympic Games are only a few weeks away. If the Japanese and International Olympic committees can manage a COVID-safe environment, I welcome them. I consider this event to be one of the purest forms of athletic competition.

Juneteenth and confronting hard history by Marc H. Morial
“Slavery is hard history. It is hard to comprehend the inhumanity that defined it. It is hard to discuss the violence that sustained it. It is hard to teach the ideology of white supremacy that justified it. And it is hard to learn about those who abided it.

Hats off to graduates
We send hearty congratulations to Richmond Public Schools’ valedictorians, as well as all high school seniors in Richmond and the surrounding counties as they graduate this month.

Juneteenth
We are impressed by the scope of activities planned for Juneteenth and the great effort put forth by so many individuals and organizations to make a success of its first celebration as an official state holiday.

‘In the Heights’ opens to low numbers
NEW YORK Just when a party was poised to break out in movie theaters, the below-expectation debut of “In the Heights” last weekend dampened Hollywood’s hopes of a swift or smooth recovery at the summer box office.

Oprah’s new book pick: ‘The Sweetness of Water’
NEW YORK Oprah Winfrey’s next book club pick is a debut novel set in Georgia at the end of the Civil War: “The Sweetness of Water” by Nathan Harris.