
Quarterback showdown gearing up for Super Bowl LII
“Fly, Eagles, Fly,” the Philadelphia Eagles fight song, is unofficially No. 1 on the pop charts these days in the City of Brotherly Love.

William T. Stone Sr., former substitute judge, Williamsburg funeral home owner, dies at 87
William Thomas Stone Sr. made history in 1968, when he was one of the first African-Americans appointed to the judiciary in Virginia.

Retired teacher Margaret Dungee, 88, dies
Margaret Inez Rollins Dungee felt called to teach. The Richmond native “loved children, delighted in seeing them learn and went to long lengths to see others obtain college educations,” her daughter, Veronica D. Abrams, stated.

AME Bishop John Hurst Adams succumbs at 90
Bishop John Hurst Adams, a nationwide religious and civil rights leader who was a strong voice for removing the Confederate flag from the South Carolina State House dome, died Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2018. He was 90.
Hugh Masekela, South African jazz musician instrumental in anti-apartheid fight, dies at 78
Trumpeter and singer Hugh Masekela, known as the “father of South African jazz” who used his music in the fight against apartheid, has died after a decade-long fight with prostate cancer, his family said on Tuesday. He was 78.

Misperceptions prevent some from donating organs
Although most Americans say they’re willing to be an organ donor after they die, some people never sign up because they’re unsure about what could happen to them in a medical emergency, according to a new study. In particular, survey respondents reported concerns about receiving adequate medical care if they registered to donate organs after they died.

Personality: Diane E. Woodruff
Spotlight on board chair of nonprofit City Singers Youth Choirs
Music is the great equalizer and it touches the whole child.

A new lease
T.K. Somanath resigns from the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority amid criticism regarding heating crisis
Battered by criticism over his handling of a heating crisis in the Creighton Court public housing community, T.K. Somanath abruptly resigned Sunday as chief executive officer of the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority.

RRHA picks Orlando Artze as interim CEO
Orlando Artze, a 64-year-old former Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority board member who has spent the past two years working on special projects for the authority, has been named RRHA’s interim chief executive officer.

Work begins in Creighton Court
Work is finally underway to restore heat in 12 buildings in the Creighton Court public housing community, a failure of a basic service that has come to symbolize the deteriorating state of Richmond’s “public housing stock.”

Mayor Stoney proposes meals tax hike to support schools
Declaring that Richmond “is strong,” Mayor Levar M. Stoney called for “bold and courageous” action to deal with some of the city’s unmet challenges such as decaying schools and public housing.

Bond fund to help people stay out of jail
Get arrested and you could lose your job, your home, custody of your children and anything you own if you can’t raise bail money.

New RPS superintendent to be sworn in Feb. 1
Jason Kamras, the new superintendent of Richmond Public Schools, will be sworn in at 9 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 1, in the School Board Room on the 17th floor of Richmond City Hall, 900 E. Broad St. in Downtown. The ceremony is open to the public.

Dr. Wyatt Tee Walker, civil rights icon, chief of staff to Dr. King, dies in Chester
Dr. Wyatt Tee Walker Jr. did all he could to advance civil rights during his long life. He is credited with being the key strategist behind many of the civil rights protests that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. led in seeking to end the racial injustice of Jim Crow in the 1960s.

Dr. King’s work not finished
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. didn’t plan to get involved in the Memphis, Tenn., garbage workers’ strike. He hadn’t planned to be there on the fateful day when he was shot on April 4, 1968. But he was pressured to go the first time and found the garbage workers’ strike compelling. He promised to return, and felt it important to keep his word, despite a packed schedule.

Not crazy, just racist
OK, can we finally stop beating around the bush and say outright that President Donald J. Trump is a white supremacist?
Virginia hope
We give high marks to Virginia’s newly inaugurated governor, Dr. Ralph S. Northam. The pediatric neurosurgeon and his Democratic team of Lt. Gov. Justin E. Fairfax and Attorney General Mark R. Herring stepped into the limelight and their important posts on Saturday with an inaugural ceremony that spoke to what’s right and good about Virginia by embracing its rich diversity.

Challenge under raps
Cosby High School student hoping for fame and a win on music TV show
When Brazil Barber posted a music video on YouTube in March 2016 of a song she wrote and performed, little did she know that it would open doors and land her on a national cable television show.

Rep. A. Donald McEachin energizes crowd at Community Leaders Breakfast
Congressman A. Donald McEachin got serious — and spiritual — very quickly last Friday as he launched his keynote address at Virginia Union University’s 40th Annual Community Leaders Breakfast.

Dr. Summers to speak Jan.18 on Civil War era media
Dr. Mark Summers, the Thomas D. Clark Professor of History at the University of Kentucky, will speak on “The Partisan Press of the 1860s” during the American Civil War Museum’s Foundry Series program 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 18, at Historic Tredegar, 490 Tredegar St.