Vote out those who weakened school truancy law
Letters to the Editor
Re “RPS attendance officers’ jobs on chopping block despite crucial need, service,” Free Press March 14-16 edition: It was unconscionable for members of the Richmond delegation to the General Assembly to vote to defang the truancy law.
Remembrance and justice: Shockoe Bottom Memorial
Letters to the editor
Every week, a new story of some city, county or state’s decision to keep or remove a memento of the Confederacy captures our nation’s attention.
Calling out white terrorists
An Australian white nationalist who says he hates immigrants acted out his hate by murdering at least 49 people and seriously injuring dozens more last week. He
New Zealand shooting hits home for American Muslims
For Muslims, Fridays are special. Mosques come to life with the mandatory Jummah prayer services, where imams deliver sermons and lead rows of worshippers in congregational prayer. Muslims dress in their Friday best and greet one another with “Jummah Mubarak” or “blessed Friday.”
Too late in Venezuela?
The United States is pushing for an overthrow of the government of Venezuela. The Trump administration has denounced Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro as a “dictator,” dismissing the 2018 election, which the opposition boycotted.
The only plan on the table
Mayor Levar M. Stoney has presented what he calls a “bold” new budget to Richmond City Council that goes all in for greater investment in public schools and road and street improvements.
Virginia, change and the ERA
People have said the Democrats have no central focus. I think we do — and that’s inclusion.
Women, the draft and equality
A federal judge in Texas ruled last month that the all-male draft in the United States is unconstitutional. For many decades, there have been divisions in our military — the 442nd Infantry Regiment of Japanese Americans, the African-American Tuskegee Airmen, the African-American cavalry regiment known as Buffalo Soldiers and the American Indian code talkers.
From the ground up
Cityscape: Slices of life and scenes in Richmond
Church Hill North is going vertical three years after ground was broken for the development at the former site of Armstrong High School in the East End.
Help end gun violence
H.R. 8, the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2019, is the most significant gun safety bill approved by the U.S. House of Representatives in more than two decades. The legislation requires background checks on all firearm sales in the country.
Young people and vaping
Nearly half a million people die every year from complications from smoking. About a tenth of them never put a cigarette to their lips; they die from exposure to second-hand smoke.
‘Something in the Water’
Planning to attend “Something in the Water,” the three-day music festival in late April spearheaded by Pharrell Williams in Virginia Beach? According to the latest reports, the cheapest tickets are sold out, along with most of the hotel rooms on the oceanfront.
UR to host author Lawrence Ross
Best-selling author Lawrence Ross will discuss his new book on free speech issues at universities, “Blackballed: The Black and White Politics of Race on America’s Campuses,” on Tuesday, March 26, at the University of Richmond.
Elizabeth Keckly documentary screening March 23 at BHM
The Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia is screening the documentary, “The Life and Times of Elizabeth Keckly,” about the enslaved Dinwiddie County native who became a seamstress and dress designer, bought her freedom and that of her son and moved to Washington, where she became a confidante to President Abraham Lincoln’s wife, Mary Todd Lincoln.
28th Annual Southern Women’s Show March 22-24 at Richmond Raceway Complex
The 28th Annual Southern Women’s Show is coming to Richmond with fashion shows, cooking demonstrations, celebrity appearances and exhibitors offering information, products and services, including boutiques with the latest styles, trendy jewelry, home décor, gourmet treats, health and fitness and beauty items.
2019 Richmond History Makers honored
Five people and two organizations were honored Tuesday as the 2019 Richmond History Makers by The Valentine and the Capital Region Collaborative.
Rep. Omar, anti-Semitism and Islamophobia
A Muslim civil rights organization has called on Fox News to fire host Jeanine Pirro for questioning Rep. Ilhan Omar’s loyalty to the United States in a monologue on her weekend show “Justice with Judge Jeanine” and suggesting the Minnesota Democrat’s decision to wear a hijab is “antithetical” to the U.S. Constitution.
Kazoos, chants drown out church’s message of hate
Anti-gay demonstrators from the controversial Westboro Baptist Church in Kansas were met by Randy Blythe of Richmond’s heavy metal band Lamb of God at the Virginia State Capitol on Monday with an unlikely weapon — kazoos.
Rev. Janie M. Walker retiring as co-pastoral director of Richmond Hill
After a 15-year relationship with Richmond Hill, the Rev. Janie M. Walker, co-pastoral director of the religious community on Church Hill, is retiring. Rev. Walker, whose last day is May 15, has led the residential ecumenical Christian community since 2014.
Longtime educator Joyce Clay Dennis dies at 85
Joyce Clay Dennis laid the academic foundation for hundreds of Richmond children who came through her elementary classrooms in Richmond.
