Richmond Christian Center looking to merge in new bankruptcy plan
The bankrupt Richmond Christian Center has come up with a new plan in a last-ditch effort to stave off a court-ordered sale of its property in the 200 block of Cowardin Avenue in South Side.
Panel to discuss role of African-American church on Aug.17
The current and historical role of the African-American church will be examined during a free panel discussion to be held as part of the 150th anniversary celebration of Sixth Mount Zion Baptist Church in Jackson Ward.
Churches host back-to-school rallies
Two Richmond area churches are planning back-to-school rallies that will include distribution of free school supplies. • First Union Baptist Church will host its back-to-school rally 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 19, at the church, 6144 Derwent Road in South Side.
Facts about nominee for international religious freedom ambassador
Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback, President Trump’s nominee for international religious freedom ambassador, describes religious freedom as “the choice of what you do with your own soul.”
A successful new experiment on human embryo raises religious questions
News that scientists for the first time successfully edited genes in human embryos has created a stir.
Personality: Bernice E. Travers
Spotlight on president of Richmond Crusade for Voters
When Bernice E. Travers joined the Richmond Crusade for Voters in 1977, the election of a majority African-American Richmond City Council disrupted a centuries old, white-majority power structure.
Public to Monument Avenue Commission:
Is statue removal off the table?
Can the Monument Avenue Commission recommend that the statues of Confederates be removed? That was the pressing question at the first full meeting Monday of the commission assembled by Richmond Mayor Levar M. Stoney to deal with the statues to vanquished traitors along the tree-lined thoroughfare.
George Mason Elementary to stay open with repairs
George Mason Elementary School’s students, teachers and staff are staying put for the 2017-18 school year. The Richmond School Board voted Monday night to back Interim Superintendent Thomas Kranz’s recommendation to make repairs at the Church Hill building that is more than 100 years old.
VSU fires 10 professors just days before start of classes
Just ahead of the start of the fall semester next week, Virginia State University has axed nearly 10 professors, scrambling schedules for students who previously signed up to take their fall classes.
Organizers claim success in schools petition drive
The petition drive to put the issue of modernizing Richmond’s dilapidated public schools before city voters has succeeded, according to the leader of the campaign
GRTC Pulse service delays start
The new GRTC Pulse bus rapid transit no longer is expected to be completed, tested and operating by the end of October. GRTC had advertised on its weekly updates that Pulse would arrive in 2017, but that changed in recent updates to “arriving soon.”
Tensions high over North Korea
Are we facing a nuclear war with North Korea? Amid all the issues people are facing in Richmond and elsewhere, President Trump pushed that question front and center this week.
Charlottesville braces for alt-right rally over Confederate statues
As the City of Charlottesville braces for a potentially volatile confrontation between supporters at a “Unite the Right” rally organized by white supremacist Jason Kessler and counterprotesters, city officials and faith leaders are taking precautions. The rally is scheduled for noon to 5p.m. Saturday, Aug. 12, at Emancipation Park in Charlottesville’s downtown to protest the Charlottesville City Council’s decision in April to have the statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee removed from the park.
New VUU president
Dr. Hakim J. Lucas of Bethune-Cookman tapped as school’s 13th president
They’ve been rivals forever, but Virginia Union and Virginia State universities soon will have one thing in common — a first-time president with executive credentials honed at Bethune-Cookman University in Florida. Twenty months after VSU hired Bethune-Cookman Provost Makola M. Abdullah as its 14th president, VUU announced that the Florida university’s chief fundraiser, Dr. Hakim J. Lucas, would become its 13th president, effective Sept. 1. Dr. Lucas’ appointment was announced Tuesday by Dr. W. Franklyn Richardson, VUU’s board chairman, following a 14-month search to replace former President Claude G. Perkins, who stepped down in June 2016, first taking a sabbatical and then retiring.
Access to voter information to boost schools petition drive
Paul Goldman has gained access to Richmond voter information for his Put Schools First petition drive under a settlement reached with the office of Attorney General Mark R. Herring. Already close to securing the nearly 10,400 signatures needed to get on the ballot, Mr. Goldman said the settlement allows him to access the names and addresses of registered voters on a block-by-block basis from the state Department of Elections’ database.
VSU wins HBCU awards
Virginia State University President Makola M. Abdullah was named Male President of the Year at the 2017 HBCU Awards presented by the Thurgood Marshall College Fund.
‘Richmond could be a showpiece’
Re “‘Tear those statues down:’ Richmonders decry mayor’s plan to put Confederate statues ‘in context,’” Free Press June 29-July 1 edition:
1 vendor? ‘This is ridiculous!’
Re “Only 1 black-owned food vendor at NFL training camp,” Free Press July 27-29 edition: Only one black food vendor at the NFL training camp in Richmond? This is ridiculous!
‘Working democracy and … acts of humanity could save this city’
Re: Who’s running RPS superintendent search?” Free Press July 27-29 edition: I agree wholeheartedly with the Rev. Ben Campbell that we should welcome Richmond’s major corporate leaders who are willing to help our community solve its most pressing problems.
The real context behind Monument Avenue
The Virginia Defenders for Freedom, Justice & Equality issued the following open letter to members of the Monument Avenue Commission:
