Moving forward
Monday was Aug. 28, an innocuous date. But blurbs about its history and meaning have been circulating on the internet. On this day:

Vagabond to reopen with Mama J’s flair
Vagabond, a stylish restaurant at 7th and Broad streets, is reopening Friday, Sept. 1, with some Mama J’s flavor and flair. Restaurateurs Velma R. Johnson, owner of Mama J’s Kitchen on 1st Street, and her son, Lester Johnson, are blending their experience and several signature dishes from the Jackson Ward location and adding a dash of entertainment to create a new vibe at the Broad Street eatery.

‘Finding Boaz’
Richmonder produces Christian comedy film about the highs and lows of finding love
When the lights went down, the laughs went up at a private screening last Saturday of the new, Virginia-produced film, “Finding Boaz.”

Former FBI director James Comey at Howard University
James Comey, the FBI director fired by President Trump in May, has a new job. He will lead and conduct a series of lectures at Howard University and be the keynote speaker at the university’s opening convocation Friday, Sept. 22.

3rd Annual Films on the Floodwall Sept.13
The 3rd Annual Films on the Floodwall, a free community film screening, will be held 6 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 13, at Diversity Park in Richmond’s James River Park System.

Applications due Sept.15 for VMFA Museum Leaders in Training Program
The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts is accepting applications from students in grades eight through 12 for its Museum Leaders in Training Program.

Revenge may be factor in VSU-NSU Labor Day Classic
There is no shortage of spicy story lines for the Labor Day Classic on Saturday, Sept. 2, matching old foes Virginia State and Norfolk State universities at Dick Price Stadium in Norfolk. Let’s start with the revenge factor.

VUU heads to N.Y. for season opener Sept. 2 against LIU-Post
The New York City area was good to Virginia Union University football at least once before. Now the Panthers are hoping to strike gold again in the long shadows of Gotham to open their fourth season under Coach Mark James.

8th-grader Jayson Ward racing toward track goals
Jayson Ward has added another impressive track title to his growing collection. The 13-year-old Chesterfield County resident now has two national outdoor titles to go with his three national indoor championships.

Mayweather chooses ‘right dance partner’ for final fight
At the start, Conor McGregor was cool, calm and collected, and an upset seemed possible. In the end, the rugged Irishman melted from the heat of a relentless Floyd Mayweather Jr. attack last Saturday night at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Thousands join 1,000 Ministers March for Justice in D.C.
From Protestant preachers to Jewish cantors to Catholic nuns, religious leaders of a range of faiths demonstrated in the nation’s capital for racial justice, criticizing the silence of some within their own ranks on the subject of white supremacy and questioning the morality of Trump administration policies.

Bishop Francis X. DiLorenzo, head of Catholic Diocese of Richmond, dies at 75
A funeral Mass for Bishop Francis X. DiLorenzo, who served for the last 13 years as bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Richmond, was said Friday, Aug. 25, at the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Richmond. Bishop DiLorenzo, who made a return to conservative values his top priority, died Thursday, Aug. 17, 2017, at age 75. He was installed as the diocese’s 12th bishop in 2004 and vowed to bring the practices and values of the diocese back in line with the Scriptures.

Personality: Antuane Ramon Moore
Spotlight on Richmond Education Association president
The start of a new school year can bring a mix of excitement and anxiety for parents and students. Richmond Education Association President Antuane Ramon Moore has some advice to help everyone get ready. Parents and guardians “set the stage” for a love of learning because they are a child’s first teachers, Mr. Moore says. It’s up to parents and guardians to “ensure students’ basic needs are met. Parents need to establish supportive, daily routines to assist children with homework, reading, projects, studying and preparing for the next day of school.”

First Lady kicks off initiative to attract grocers to Va.’s food deserts
A new initiative could help bring new grocery stores to low-income areas of cities and counties that major chains no longer serve and that have been defined as food deserts.

Monument Avenue Commission Sept. 13 meeting postponed
The Monument Avenue Commission’s much-anticipated Sept. 13 public hearing on the Confederate statues in Richmond has been postponed until sometime in October.

Attorney general opinion says Richmond statues may be moved
Richmond apparently could remove four of the five Confederate statues on Monument Avenue without violating a state law protecting them, according to an opinion from Virginia Attorney General Mark R. Herring.

Back-to-school events during Labor Day holiday
Thousands of Richmond children will fitted be for new shoes for free on Labor Day before heading to class next Tuesday, Sept. 5.

Hurricane Harvey devastates Texas; blasts into Louisiana
More than 10,000 people — an overflow of evacuees — have sought refuge in the Houston Convention Center in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, which struck the Texas Gulf Coast last Friday, leaving the nation’s fourth largest city and its surrounding communities in a flood of devastation.

Independent review slated of Charlottesville events
More than 200 clergy, activists and citizens began a 10-day march this week from Emancipation Park in Charlottesville to Washington in a public show of resistance to the white supremacists who brought violence and death to the city earlier this month.