Baker School building eyed for conversion into apartments
A vacant school building at 100 W. Baker St. in Gilpin Court is being eyed for conversion into 55 one-bedroom apartments for the elderly and disabled.
Gospel singer, songwriter plans nonprofit to help women returning from incarceration
Rhonda Aiden knows the obstacles many women experience when they are released from incarceration back into society. “It’s an overwhelming feeling,” said Ms. Aiden. The 44-year-old South Side resident said she spent a total of five years behind bars in three separate stints for writing bad checks, beginning in 2003. Her last time was from 2011 to 2012 at Deerfield Correctional Center in Southampton County.
20 Richmond Public Schools students chosen as Altria College Opportunity Fund scholars
Twenty Richmond Public Schools students will receive scholarships totaling up to $800,000 from Altria during a program Thursday, May 21, at the historic Hippodrome Theater in Jackson Ward.
Foster care project gets $100,000 boost
Two Richmond-based nonprofits just got a huge boost in their efforts to provide support for young people who are mandated to leave the foster care system in Virginia at age 18. The Children’s Home Society of Virginia, led by president and CEO Nadine Marsh-Carter, learned May 13 it had been selected to receive a $100,000 grant from Impact 100 Richmond to aid the “Possibilities Project,” an initiative first featured in the May 14-16 edition of the Free Press.
City Council approves 2016 budget, cuts funds for 379 vacant positions
Call it the big shrink at City Hall. Mayor Dwight C. Jones and Richmond City Council have combined to eliminate funding for at least 379 vacant jobs, essentially positions funded by taxes paid into city coffers
Huguenot soccer team has a world of talent
It is fitting Huso Hasanovic teaches world geography at Huguenot High School. His global awareness ties in nicely with his other Huguenot duty — coaching Falcons soccer. With an international cast of athletes, Hasanovic, a native of Bosnia, has guided his fledgling program to championship caliber in just two seasons.
Felony record shouldn’t be red flag forever
I was released from prison approximately three years ago, but my past has stifled any and all progress. I have served my time, but I feel as if I am still being punished.
Immigrants or invaders?
Do we have an immigration problem? Immigrants come here legally. They come here to benefit from the advantages of living in a nation of freedom and opportunity. They are eager to learn the language and American customs and become productive American citizens. The problem we have is an invasion. True, the invaders aren’t coming here militarily. If they were, they would be summarily repelled. Rather, they are allowed to walk in with impunity.
City officials lost their way on housing
Re “Mobile home residents allege city’s actions discriminatory in HUD complaint,” May 7-9 edition: The saga of Rudd’s trailer park off Jeff-Davis Highway is the tip of the iceberg of failed building maintenance inspection that goes back long before I began tracking it 25 years ago. In 1990, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development estimated there were 20,000 substandard houses in Richmond.
Legalized torture of prisoners
Freddie Gray is neither the first nor will he be the last person to die in police custody. According to a 2011 report from the U.S. Department of Justice, 4,813 people died in police custody between 2003 and 2009 (the most recent data, reported in 2011). However, not every state reports their data, so the number is probably higher. A new report is scheduled to be released this year or next.
Take back our schools
Take back our schools We applaud Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s initial response to a startling national report by the Center for Public Integrity. That report found that Virginia’s public schools refer students to police and courts more often than other states.
Texas thugs
What color is a thug? The Wild West shootout last Sunday in Waco, Texas, by five rival motorcycle gangs proves what we’ve known all along — thugs come in all colors, ages, shapes and sizes.
Students win state, national awards
Students from Richmond-based schools have won awards in state and national competitions. High school and middle school students from the city scored in the annual Technology Student Association competition in Hampton earlier this month.
Teaching healthy eating at Woodville Elementary
Free Press executive Raymond H. Boone Jr. talks up healthy foods Monday at Woodville Elementary School to an audience of students, and has plenty on display for them to see and taste.
Delver Woman’s Club hosts 70th luncheon
The Delver Woman’s Club hosted its 70th annual luncheon May 16 at Ebenezer Baptist Church’s Fellowship Hall. The theme: Entrepreneurship: Overcoming Obstacles.j
Golf tournament benefits MetroCare program to help families with heating bills
Al Scott is by his own admission a golf addict. “I golf religiously,” Mr. Scott, the new deputy director of the Richmond Department of Public Utilities, told the Free Press Tuesday.
Golden State Warriors may be the team to beat in NBA finals
No Spurs. No Heat. No Lakers. No Celtics. No one can say “same ol’ same ol’” about this year’s NBA Conference Finals. The surviving Atlanta Hawks, Cleveland Cavaliers, Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets have more recently represented the league’s have-nots than haves. None of the teams has won an NBA title since Houston in 1995, when current league MVP Stephen Curry was just 7 years old.
New VCU basketball recruit played for Egypt’s national team
Virginia Commonwealth University’s latest basketball signee hails from Alexandria. No, not Alexandria, Va., but Alexandria, Egypt. Ahmed Hamby Mohamed, who turns 22 in August, is a 6-foot-9, 245-pound transfer from Lee College in Baytown, Texas. He averaged 16.2 points and 10.7 rebounds for the junior college team this past winter. Before that, he signed with the University of Houston but never played there.
VUU golf team plans to come out swinging in 2016 season
Virginia Union University once dominated CIAA golf. E. Lee Coble is optimistic the Panthers will roar and soar again on the links. After arriving on the Lombardy Street campus last year with impeccable credentials, Coach Coble is beginning his second full season as head of VUU golf.
