Kenny Easley among 10 to be inducted into Virginia High School Hall of Fame
Kenny Easley, considered among the greatest athletes in state history, is among five athletes named to the Virginia High School Hall of Fame.
VSU Coach Lonnie Blow wins Clarence ‘Big House’ Gaines Coach of the Year Award
Coach Lonnie Blow’s success at Virginia State University has drawn national acclaim. The Trojans basketball coach has received the Clarence “Big House” Gaines Coach of the Year Award by the National Sports Media Association. The award is presented to the most outstanding men’s basketball coach in NCAA Division II.
‘Something in the Water’
“Something in the Water,” the weekend music festival in Virginia Beach pioneered by that city’s own nationally known singer and songwriter Pharrell Williams, drew more than 50,000 happy people to the oceanfront for the first-of-its-kind event in Hampton Roads.
Richmonder Ferrell raids No. 4 spot in NFL draft, headed to Oakland
Burdened with the NFL’s most anemic pass rush, the Oakland Raiders have turned to a Richmonder for first aid. The Raiders drafted former Benedictine College Preparatory school and Clemson University defensive end Clelin Ferrell in the first round as the fourth overall pick during the NFL draft last week in Nashville.
Volunteer cleanup Saturday at Evergreen Cemetery
Members of Richmond Masonic Lodge #65, F&AM, will host a public day of cleanup at historic Evergreen Cemetery in the city’s East End, it has been announced.
RISC receives federal grant to assist with community effort
A coalition of 20 Richmond area Christian and Jewish congregations that focuses on social justice has been awarded a $144,000 federal grant ahead of its annual meeting where the faith-based coalition will press for changes in eviction policy and for proven reading and trauma response programs in schools.
Critically acclaimed filmmaker John Singleton dies at 51
Director John Singleton, who made one of Hollywood’s most memorable debuts with the Oscar-nominated “Boyz N the Hood” and continued over the following decades to probe the lives of African-American communities in his native Los Angeles and beyond, died Monday, April 29, 2019, after suffering several strokes during the last two weeks. He was 51.
Personality: Dr. Cynthia O. Richardson
Spotlight on president of the Petersburg Area Art League
Cynthia Owens Richardson, president of the Petersburg Area Art League, wants the nonprofit to be a mecca for people to explore, experience and be inspired by art.
City starts down road to regulate short-term rentals
Want to use Airbnb, FlipKey, VRBO or other online websites to rent your Richmond home or apartment to travelers?
228,783 That’s now Richmond’s estimated population
An estimated 228,783 people called Richmond home on July 1, 2018, the largest number since 1970 when the city’s population was near 250,000 residents, according to the latest estimate from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Former VCU dean drops defamation suit against Wilder
Former Gov. L. Douglas Wilder is no longer facing a defamation lawsuit that was scheduled for trial in mid-July in Richmond Circuit Court.
Hemp: Virginia’s new big cash crop?
At first glance, it looks like a stoner’s paradise: Acres of plants that resemble marijuana. But this crop is hemp, a relative of cannabis that has commercial uses ranging from textiles and animal feed to health products.
Nation’s top teacher celebrated in whirlwind of appearances
If the nation’s president won’t honor you publicly as National Teacher of the Year, at least your state senators and district’s congressman will.
Balancing act
Richmond City Council designs a new budget that places a 50 cent-per-pack tax on cigarettes, increases funding for schools and expands bus service while giving city employees a 3 percent raise
An exhausted City Council completed work Monday on a new 2019-20 spending plan for Richmond that calls for a 3.6 percent, or $26 million, increase in city spending and is balanced with the imposition of the city’s first tax on cigarettes — a 50 cent levy on each pack effective July 1— and a hike in utility rates.
Judge Damon J. Keith, civil rights and judicial icon, dies at 96
U.S. Appeals Court Judge Damon J. Keith, who decided many of the nation’s most important school desegregation, employment discrimination and government surveillance cases during his more than 50 years on the federal bench, died Sunday, April 28, 2019, at his home in Detroit surrounded by family.
Charles W. Howell Jr., longtime community advocate and health administrator, dies at 91
Since 1975, the federal government has been issuing income tax refunds to low-income working individuals and families through an anti-poverty initiative called the Earned Income Tax Credit, or EITC.
Head of the class!
Richmond Public Schools teacher Rodney A. Robinson, who mentors and inspires students at the Richmond Juvenile Detention Center, wins 2019 National Teacher of the Year
Rodney A. Robinson, the 40-year-old history and social studies teacher who inspires students each and every day inside the Richmond Juvenile Detention Center, where he has worked at the Virgie Binford Education Center since 2015, has been named 2019 National Teacher of the Year.
Northam, appeasement, atonement and black voters
In recent days, some Democrats in Virginia have seemingly adopted the principal that electoral expediency trumps zero tolerance for racism. Unfortunately, they received an eye-opening reminder that this strategy will be met by resistance from many of the very people whose votes will be essential for any Democratic victory in November.
Trump and death of democracy
Democracy is defined as government “of the people, by the people, and for the people.” Who are the people who support our contemporary status quo? And how, in marginalizing the will of the people, is democracy destroyed?
Barr, truth and the Mueller report
The much-anticipated and long-awaited Mueller report has been handled in an unbelievable way. We first received four pages about a 22-month study that told us nothing truthfully. U.S. Attorney General William Barr led us to believe everybody had been “picking on the poor innocent president.”
