Women’s Empowerment Conference Dec.5
“Arise & Soar — Destiny Awaits You.” That’s the theme of a Women’s Empowerment Conference to be held 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 5. Location: The Family Life Center at Fifth Baptist Church, 1415 W. Cary St. in the West End.
Faith groups mobilize against opposition to Syrian refugees
Religious groups are pushing back against a wave of opposition toward Syrian refugees and are working to preserve the United States as a haven for those fleeing their war-torn nation.
Pope Francis embarks on African trip during Christian-Muslim tension
Pope Francis’ first trip to Africa will highlight the problems of building dialogue between Christianity and Islam as both religions grow fast on the continent and threaten to widen an already volatile fault line.
Chicago police officer charged with murder in death of black teen
A white Chicago policeman was charged Tuesday with murdering a black teenager, and authorities are hoping to stave off a fresh burst of the turmoil over race and police use of deadly force that has shaken the United States for more than a year. Officer Jason Van Dyke, 37, was denied bail at a hearing in Chicago’s main criminal courthouse hours after prosecutor Anita Alvarez announced charges of first-degree murder, or killing without lawful justification. If convicted, Officer Van Dyke could face 20 years to life in prison.
Hammond’s contract extended at vsu
Dr. Pamela V. Hammond has agreed to spend an extra month as interim president of Virginia State University. The VSU Board of Visitors last week approved a one-month extension of Dr. Hammond’s contract that will keep her in place through Jan. 31.
VCU historian: Records show KKK spread across the U.S. like measles
At a time when some presidential candidates are gaining support and headlines for bashing African-Americans, Mexican immigrants, Muslims and other groups, a historian in Richmond is using records of the Ku Klux Klan to show the public how easily bigotry can spread to every corner of the country.
AG’s office premieres documentary on rising heroin epidemic Dec. 2
The office of Attorney General Mark R. Herring is premiering a documentary it has produced, “Heroin, The Hardest Hit,” 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 2, at the Library of Virginia, 800 E. Broad St., in Downtown.
Triple the blessings
From intensive care unit to loving arms of thankful mother
Keri’Co, Kali’Co and Koh’Co Harris spent their first Thanksgiving in the intensive care unit at Henrico Doctors’ Hospital. The diminutive triplets were receiving life-nurturing aid from medical staff after their mother, Deidre Harris, delivered them two months prematurely by Cesarean section Oct. 21, 2013. She was 33 at the time and was suffering from health complications.
VCU now working on new children’s hospital
Virginia Commonwealth University plans to take the lead in developing a new inpatient children’s hospital in Richmond. After rebuffing a private group’s concept of an independent, freestanding hospital on the Boulevard, VCU is moving to create a plan for a dedicated hospital for children on its medical campus in Downtown.
City needs better rapid transit plan
The RVA Coalition for Smart Transit represents 11 neighborhood organizations and civic groups. We are Richmond voters, residents, taxpayers, business owners and bus riders from every demographic. We vigorously support improved public transit in Richmond, and that is precisely why we are so concerned about GRTC’s bus rapid transit as it is currently planned. The more we learn about this bus concept called “the Pulse,” the more it appears to be fundamentally flawed. According to GRTC’s own million dollar study, 47 percent of Richmonders have no bus service where they live. According to a Harvard University study, Richmond ranks 92nd out of 100 metropolitan areas in public transit service.
Hope for the ‘Cotton Curtain’
We won the Voting Rights Act of 1965 at Selma, combining the power of a principled mass movement led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and a compassionate president who did the right thing despite the heavy political price. What was that cost? President Lyndon B. Johnson said it best at the time when he told his aides that we’d “just lost the South for a generation.”
Beyond T-shirts and hoodies
Recollections of my 1995 article on the business of college athletics danced in my head when I heard the news about the University of Missouri football team’s refusal to play until the president of that university, Tim Wolfe, resigned or was dismissed.
Think globally
The terrorist attacks in Paris last week that resulted in the deaths of 129 people and the wounding of several hundred more are the latest tragedy in a world becoming all too familiar with violence of this type and magnitude. Somehow, we divorce ourselves from the fatal incidents and suicide bombings occurring across the globe until they happen to people we connect with.
VUU heads to first round of NCAA playoffs
Virginia Union University has been given the chance to scratch a 24-year football itch. But before the Panthers say can “ahh,” there is much work to be done.
Kenyan, Ethiopian runners clinch top spots in marathon
Runners from Kenya and Ethiopia were first to the finish line last Saturday in the 38th Annual Anthem Richmond Marathon. More than 19,000 runners competed in the main event — the 26.2-mile marathon — along with its companion races, the half marathon and 8K.
VCU Rams take on Duke Blue Devils in NY
Here comes the rubber match. Virginia Commonwealth University and Duke University have met twice before in basketball, in 2007 and 2012, with each school winning once.
First Baptist Chesterfield project lacks black participation
First Baptist Church of South Richmond has poured nearly $6 million into buying land and developing its long-planned satellite sanctuary in Chesterfield County.
‘Faith and Public Safety’ forum Sunday
By Jeremy M. Lazarus
Sunday services will be unusual at St. Peter Baptist Church in Henrico County. The pastor, Dr. Kirkland R. Walton, is replacing the traditional 11 a.m. service on Nov. 22 with a two-hour forum titled “Faith and Public Safety,” it has been announced.
World religious leaders condemn Paris carnage
Pope Francis raised the specter of a World War III “in pieces,” Muslims issued statements of condemnation, while evangelical Christians in America debated whether to speak of a “war with Islam.” These were some of the responses last week by religious leaders around the world to the series of attacks Nov. 13 in Paris that left more than 120 people dead and hundreds of others wounded.
