11% tuition hike
NSU and U.Va. among state’s highest
Once again, the price tag to attend Virginia’s 15 state-supported colleges and universities is going up faster than inflation. In-state students can expect to pay at least 3 to 5 percent more in the fall, with a few schools going even higher. For example, Norfolk State University and the University of Virginia are posting a tuition-and-fees increase of 11 percent for incoming freshmen — among the largest tuition hikes in Virginia. U.Va. is imposing a $1,470 increase for new freshmen with the aim of raising money to reduce borrowing for students from lower-income families. The increase means new freshmen will pay $14,468 for the fall and spring semesters, not including room and board. Tuition for current students will rise only 3.9 percent from the current charge of $12,998.
Hicks touts improvement in city social services
Reports of child abuse and neglect in Richmond are being addressed more quickly. City children in foster care are spending less time in temporary homes. And applicants for Medicaid and food stamps are receiving faster service.
Comedy show to highlight anniversary
Fifth Street Baptist Church on North Side is presenting a comedy show this weekend as part of its 20th anniversary celebration for its pastor, the Rev. F. Todd Gray, the church has announced. “The Captain’s Comedy Hour” is scheduled for 7 p.m. Saturday, April 11, at the Grace Center at 1302 Victor St. The center is adjacent to the church at 2800 Third Ave.
When Freedom Came, Part 3
The Free Press presents a series chronicling the black experience during the liberation of Richmond in April 1865 and the end of the Civil War.
Flying Squirrels start season with fireworks at The Diamond
Play Ball!
“And the rocket’s red glare; the bombs bursting in air ...” Those are lyrics in “The Star Spangled Banner,” played before every Richmond Flying Squirrels game. The words also describe the postgame fireworks planned at The Diamond this season. The Flying Squirrels’ home opener Thursday, April 9, against the Bowie Baysox will conclude with “dueling fireworks,” pyrotechnics launched from two locations.
Rev. Graham ignores racism
Easter was last Sunday, but the Rev. Franklin Graham is still wiping egg off his face. In an unintentionally insensitive Facebook post on March 12, the hugely influential white evangelist ignored the existence of racial bias by law enforcement in the United States by suggesting the easy solution to police shootings is to teach our children to obey authority.
Tests cheat students out of education
Eleven Atlanta teachers have been convicted of altering student test scores on standardized tests. They are charged with racketeering and conspiracy. The much-celebrated superintendent of Atlanta Public Schools, the late Beverly L. Hall, was among the indicted but was too ill to stand trial. She died March 2.
The game
We congratulate and offer wishes for much success to Coach Shaka Smart and his family, who have relocated to Austin, Texas, where he just became the new basketball coach for the University of Texas Longhorns. In the six years Coach Smart led the Virginia Commonwealth University Rams, he showed his players, the Richmond community and the entire nation that discipline and hard work, coupled with genuine caring, can bring great rewards.
The lion’s tale
The lion’s tale “Until the lion tells the story of the hunt, the tale will always glorify the hunter.” We evoke this African proverb in reflecting on last weekend’s wonderful events commemorating the 150th anniversary of the liberation of Richmond and its significance in bringing the Civil War to a close. We believe the events were planned with good intentions, and that they brought an overall feeling of uplift and joy while recalling this important period in our nation’s history.
Smart trades Rams horns for Texas Longhorns
When Shaka Smart was hired as Virginia Commonwealth University’s basketball coach in 2009, he was a little known, much traveled assistant, with a name that puzzled people. Since then, his name and fame — and that of his signature game style, “Havoc” — spread. Last week, Smart traded his Rams horns for the Texas Longhorns. He leaves Richmond as one of the hottest commodities in the sport, practically a household name among hoops enthusiasts.
‘Havoc’ to continue under Will Wade
Among Shaka Smart’s first duties upon becoming Virginia Commonwealth University’s basketball coach in 2009 was to hire Will Wade as an assistant. Smart referred to Wade as “my first hire.” After Smart’s resignation for the head coaching job at the University of Texas last week, among the first moves the VCU administration made was to hire Wade as head coach for the Rams.
Dean of nation’s black preachers dies
Dr. Gardner C. Taylor, widely considered the dean of the nation’s black preachers and “the poet laureate of American Protestantism,” died Sunday, April 5, 2015, after a ministerial career that spanned more than six decades. He was 96. “Dr. Taylor was a theological giant who will be greatly missed,” the Rev. Carroll Baltimore, past president of the Progressive National Baptist Convention, said of the minister who received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2000.
Petersburg church to honor gospel choir with concert
A historic Petersburg church is presenting a concert by Larry Bland and Promise to commemorate the 29th anniversary of its church gospel choir, it has announced. Gillfield Baptist Church will honor its choir with the free concert 3 p.m. Sunday, April 19, at the church, 209 Perry St., according to the church’s pastor, Dr. George W.C. Lyons Jr.
Huge growth in Islam projected
Islam is projected to grow more than twice as fast as any other major religion over the next half century, with Muslims expected to outnumber Christians by 2070, according to projections released last week by the Pew Research Center. While Christianity will remain a dominant global religion, it will lose majority religious status in countries such as the United Kingdom, France and Australia.
VUU celebrates 150-year history with rededication April 9
Gov. Terry McAuliffe and other elected officials are scheduled to join Virginia Union University faculty, staff, students and community members on Thursday, April 9, at a series of rededication ceremonies at sites significant to the historically black institution’s history, university officials announced. The ceremonies are a part of VUU’s 150th anniversary celebration. The university, led by President Claude G. Per- kins, has held a yearlong series of events to commemorate its history.
Richmond celebrates 150 years of emancipation
In the midst of the city that once served as a merciless marketplace for hundreds of thousands of enslaved black people, a diverse audience of thousands gathered Saturday at the State Capitol to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the liberation of Richmond from the slave-holding Confederacy. The ceremony was marked by re-enactors in period dress and uniforms, uplifting music and speeches looking toward the future.
Personality: Christian P. Dundas
Spotlight on volunteer coordinator of Hoops for Health
Christian P. Dundas says he came up with the idea for a 3-on-3 youth basketball tournament at the Salvation Army Boys & Girls Club in Church Hill three years ago when he was playing recreational basketball. It was about the same time the NCAA Tournament, known as “March Madness,” was underway. “It dawned on me … why not our own version of March Madness at the club?” Mr. Dundas recalls thinking. He suggested the tournament for sixth- through eighth-graders at the club at 3701 R St., where he serves on the advisory council. Mr. Dundas says Dick Guthrie, also a member of the advisory council, suggested adding a community health festival to the tournament. Hugh Jones, the club’s executive director, rubber-stamped the idea and asked Mr. Dundas to organize the first event. The rest is history.
State may force city to replace voting machines
Richmond, Henrico County and 27 other localities might be forced to immediately buy new voting machines for use in upcoming elections. The reason: The state Board of Elections is considering banning the wireless touch-screen machines the city and the other localities successfully have used for 10 years.
Morrissey seeks to stop printing of primary ballot
Joseph D. “Joe” Morrissey is not giving up on his bid to challenge Petersburg state Sen. Rosalyn R. Dance in the June 9 Democratic primary in the 16th Senate District. This week, he asked a Richmond court to block the state Board of Elections from printing primary ballots and to grant him an opportunity to prove the state Democratic Party wrongly disqualified him. As of Free Press deadline Wednesday, the Richmond Circuit Court had yet to set a hearing on his emergency request for an injunction.
Petersburg jail closure to cost taxpayers $
Instead of saving money, the closure of the Petersburg Jail will cost city taxpayers at least $1.2 million extra each year, a Free Press analysis has determined. Figures from Petersburg’s government confirm the newspaper’s finding that closing the jail is more expensive than keeping it open, belying claims from Mayor W. Howard Myers and three other council members who supported the jail’s shutdown. That extra cost is embedded in the proposed budget that Petersburg City Manager William E. Johnson III presented recently to the seven-member Petersburg City Council. His proposed budget also provides no raises for city employees and no increase in city contributions to the public schools.
