Personality: Elwood ‘Coach Pat’ Patterson Jr.
Spotlight on co-founder of the East End Boxing Club
Everyone needs an emotional outlet to cool off, unwind or clear their head of life’s troubles. For Richmond youths, the East End Boxing Club offers a unique way to re-center their minds and improve their bodies, courtesy of Elwood Patterson Jr.
Grandparents may hold key to overcoming COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy
Black seniors who themselves are vaccinated could be the trusted messengers the community needs to push the COVID-19 vaccination, public health experts said at a recent news briefing.
Defunct
Richmond Slave Trail Commission, formed in 1998 by City Council to advocate for educating people about the enslaved and the city’s long and sordid history with slavery, no longer exists
The Richmond Slave Trail Commission – an advocacy group created by Richmond City Council to raise awareness of the role slavery played in the capital city’s history – is defunct.
Former President Obama, First Lady Jill Biden, other big-name Dems to stump for McAuliffe
Former President Obama and other prominent Democrats are headed to Virginia in a bid to rally voters for the party’s candidate for governor, Terry McAuliffe.
Pharrell Williams says ‘toxic energy’ tanked 2nd ‘Something in the Water’ in Va. Beach
Hometown or no hometown, music superstar Pharrell Wil- liams is pulling his hugely successful “Something in the Water” music festival out of Virginia Beach.
Dissatisfied voter calls for write-in support
I am very dissatisfied at the choice of candidates we have for governor this fall. There are many Virginians who don’t trust Republican Glenn Youngkin for governor and believe he is a RINO, a Republican in Name Only.
Republicans and the Santa Claus strategy
Re: Editorial “Playing politics,” Free Press Sept. 30-Oct. 2 edition:
Police policing themselves, by David W. Marshall
I wish Cariol Horne had been on the scene when Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kept his knee on George Floyd’s neck for more than 9 minutes. If she had, George Floyd may be alive today.
U.S. asylum policy needs to be clear, by Jesse L. Jackson Sr.
Today, the makeshift migrant border camp in Del Rio, Texas, is virtually empty, cleared of thousands of Haitian refugees who went there seeking asylum in America. State troopers now line the border area to discourage others from gathering.
Captain Kirk of ‘Star Trek’ fame to rocket into space next week
Actor William Shatner, who is known for his long- time role as Captain Kirk on “Star Trek,” is rocketing into space this month — boldly going where no other sci-fi actors have gone.
Elegba Folklore Society to host cultural history tour Oct. 9
The Elegba Folklore Society is hosting a cultural history tour exposing some of the city’s and state’s hidden history at noon Saturday, Oct. 9, beginning at the society’s Cultural Center, 101 E. Broad St.
Folk Festival returns to city this weekend
Following an all-virtual event last year, the Richmond Folk Festival is set to return in person to the Downtown riverfront Friday, Oct. 8, to Sunday, Oct. 10.
Waller glides into QB role for VSU; next up, battle of the coaches, both former NFL players
D’Vonte Waller led Highland Springs High School to two state championships. Now it seems he may be the quarterback to lead Virginia State University out of a rough patch.
Dejected Panthers hoping for homecoming win Saturday against Lincoln
Virginia Union University’s road to football riches has grown long and bumpy, but there is still a lane to the top.
Religious groups call for commission on Indian boarding school policy
A number of Catholic groups and Protestant denominations are calling for the United States to establish a Truth and Healing Commission to reckon with the country’s history of boarding schools that separated thousands of Indigenous children from their families and cultures during the 19th and 20th centuries.
RPS students testing positive for COVID-19 told to quarantine for 21 days
Richmond students who have tested positive for COVID-19 are being kept away from in-person learning for up to 21 days – at least a week longer than the 14 days that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends, the Free Press has been told.
Fewer Black youths in Richmond getting vaccinated, officials find
Richmond health officials are working to address the latest disparity in COVID-19 vaccinations, a racial difference among children.
