
Beloved slugger, MLB Hall of Famer Hank Aaron dies at 86
Growing up poor in Mobile, Ala., during the Great Depression, Hank Aaron began playing baseball by hitting bottle caps with sticks.

Rev. Raphael Warnock, now U.S. senator, said he heard ‘echoes of the spirit’ in swearing-in
On the first Sunday after he became a U.S. senator from Georgia, the Rev. Raphael Warnock described his election and the changing scene at the U.S. Capitol — from insurrection to inauguration — as forms of divine messaging.

Algenon L. Brown, longtime educator and member of the Capital Region Airport Commission, dies at 95
Algenon L. Brown, a career educator in Richmond for 36 years who also fought for Black business inclusion in the operation and development of the Richmond International Airport, has died.

Personality: Robin Watson Telfian
Spotlight on founder of local nonprofit Shood (Shoes for Good)
A casual soup kitchen conversation led 50-year-old Robin Watson Telfian to start a non-profit .

VEA president learns a hard lesson about COVID-19
Dr. James J. Fedderman is a career educator, but he’s learned more than he cares to know about COVID-19.

President Biden begins work on unfinished business of Trump administration
President Biden’s launch this month of a series of ambitious goals focused on resetting the nation’s agenda is being steadily packed with suggestions he include the endless list of unresolved issues left on the table by the last president.

Skipping school
Data show that 40% to 60% of Richmond area teachers are absent from the classroom 11 or more business days a year
Students always seem to be the focus of concern when the discussion centers on the ill effects of class-cutting, truancy and chronic absenteeism on education.

Mayor Stoney has COVID-19; state of city address postponed
Mayor Levar M. Stoney announced Wednesday that he has tested positive for COVID-19 and is in a 14-day isolation after developing mild symptoms.

Gun prohibition needs to be applied
Once again, citizens of the city of Richmond avoided Downtown on the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday as a group of white supremacists smelled their musk and paraded in soldier costumes, flaunting assault weapons, each having a magazine of 30 to 40 bullets.

Movement for justice must not be silent, by Jesse L. Jackson Sr.
On Monday, we celebrated Dr. Martin Luther King’s 91st birthday. On Wednesday, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were inaugurated as president and vice president, promising change after a dark period of division.

Trump must be convicted and barred from holding future office, by Rep. A. Donald McEachin
On Jan. 6, the president of the United States incited a violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, fueled by a mob that he urged via social media to come to Washington to “fight like hell” to “stop the steal” and prevent Congress from fulfilling our constitutional duty to certify the election of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.

A new day
We revel in the glow surrounding the Jan. 20 inauguration of President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Vice President Kamala Harris, and the historic “firsts” it represents for our nation: Vice President Harris, the highest-ranking woman ever elected in U.S. government; the first woman vice president in the nation’s history; the first African-American and first South Asian ever to become vice president.

6 people, organizations receive awards at VUU’s MLK Community Leaders Celebration
The values of inclusion and diversity, public service, hope and progress were the themes of Virginia Union University’s 43rd Annual Community Leaders Celebration honoring the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Rodman may become household name in soccer world, too
The name Rodman is very familiar to basketball fans. Now don’t be surprised if it becomes well known in the soccer world, too.

Jersey of Willie O’Ree, hockey’s Jackie Robinson, to be retired by Boston Bruins
No one will ever wear No. 22 again for the Boston Bruins. That’s the jersey number Willie O’Ree wore for Boston when he broke the color barrier in the National Hockey League in 1958.

3 former NFL players to join CIAA Hall of Fame
Three former NFL players will be among the inductees into the CIAA’s 2021 John B. McLendon Hall of Fame.

Will Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes be ready to play in AFC final?
Much is known about this NFL season after hundreds of games and five grueling months of popping pads. But it is the unknown that’s likely to spark the most conversation leading into the conference championships this Sunday, Jan. 24.

Rev. William Barber II to preach at inaugural interfaith prayer service
The Washington National Cathedral will host a virtual iteration of its traditional interfaith worship service on Thursday, Jan. 21, the day after the inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. Activist and pastor the Rev. William Barber II will preach the sermon.

Sandra K. Martin, assistant superintendent of the James River Juvenile Detention Center, dies at 63
Sandra Kaye Martin, who spent nearly 35 years helping troubled youths in the Richmond region find the pathway to success, has died. Ms. Martin, 63, succumbed to illness on Sunday, Jan. 10, 2021.

Doris E. Day, a longtime educator and librarian, dies at 71
Doris Day influenced the lives of thousands of children as a teacher and school librar- ian for more than 40 years in Richmond and Chesterfield County.