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School Board approves construction plan
The Richmond School Board voted 6-2 at its meeting Monday to approve Superintendent Jason Kamras’ plan to collaborate with the City of Richmond on construction of four new school buildings — George Mason and E.S.H. Greene Elementary schools, Elkhardt-Thompson Middle School and George Wythe High School. Board members Kenya Gibson, 3rd District, and Jonathan Young, 4th District, cast the two dissenting votes. Member James “Scott” Barlow, 2nd District, was absent from the meeting.
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35-and-over basketball league begins Sept. 22
So you’re getting older, but still feel like you can play a little basketball?
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Justice Center brings technology to inmates
Computer tablets are making it easier for families and inmates at the Richmond Justice Center to stay connected.
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From R&B to gospel, Barky’s has changed with the times
When Barksdale “Barky” Haggins opened Barky’s Record Shop in 1956 in Downtown, some people were determined to see he didn’t stay in business for long. “White record distributors in Richmond wouldn’t sell me records to stock the store,” the affable entrepreneur recalls. Undeterred, Mr. Haggins traveled by car to Washington or New York City once a month with about $400 and purchased as many records as possible to sell in his store, located at the time at 407 N. 1st St. “Records cost about 59 cents back then and albums ranged from $1.98 to $3.98 for the most popular ones,” Mr. Haggins said.
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Some striking UAW members carry family legacies
As Britney Johnson paced the picket line outside Ford’s Wayne Assembly plant, she wasn’t just carrying a sign demanding higher pay and other changes. Autoworker jobs have long been a pillar of the Black middle class in America, and the strikes and the fight for higher wages have had even deeper significance for workers like Johnson.
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The political advocacy group MoveOn’s Banned Bookmobile made a stop at Richmond’s Main Public Library in Downtown during its trips around the country. The bookmobile …
Published on July 20, 2023
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Be counted in 2020 Census by Gaylene Kanoyton
Conversations about the importance of respecting human dignity often are centered around individual worth and the intrinsic value we each have as contribu- tors, in ways small and large, to the world around us.
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More options under consideration for RPS academic calendar
Richmond Public Schools is considering a fourth option in adjusting the academic calendar for the 2022-23 school year.
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On a clear or cloudy day, several Richmond schools are generating energy to help power their facility. Here, solar panels on the roof of Lucille …
Published on February 28, 2020
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City to begin replacing sodium streetlights with LED lights
During the next two years, Richmond will install longer-lasting LED lights in 7,500 streetlights — the first big step to a full conversion.
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Joan B. Winston, executive director of the former Gold Bowl, dies at 88
Joan Loretta Banks Winston was often considered the “glue” that held organizations together.
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PLACES TO GO, PEOPLE TO SEE
Whether it’s art and poetry or films and music, Richmond and surrounding communities offer a lot to everyone in the coming weeks.
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RPS needs $150M more to fund strategic plan
Richmond Public Schools will need to beef up its budget with an added $150 million over five years to help implement its strategic plan to bolster city schools. Superintendent Jason Kamras presented the Richmond School Board with the cost estimate for the first time during its meeting Monday night.
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Jury selection begins in federal lawsuit against white supremacist organizers of deadly Charlottesville ‘Unite the Right’ rally
The violence at the white nationalists “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville in 2017 shocked the nation, with people beaten to the ground, lighted torches thrown at counterdemonstrators and a self- proclaimed Hitler admirer ramming his car into a crowd, killing a woman and injuring dozens more.
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Nonprofit’s effort to buy St. Emma-St. Francis property collapses
A nearly two-year effort to protect the heritage of a sprawling Powhatan County site that was the home of two African-American Catholic boarding schools has collapsed.
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RPS Chromebooks missing?
A major share of the estimated 20,000 Chromebooks that were distributed to Richmond students last year to help them connect to virtual classes have yet to be recovered or accounted for, the Free Press has been told.
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Unitarian Universalists elect first woman president
An Arizona pastor and immigrant advocate has been elected as the first woman president of the Unitarian Universalist Association.
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Mallory Hasen of Jackson Ward: “I would buy my mom a house. She was a single mom raising my sister and me, and she always …
Published on May 8, 2015
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Questions raised as council shifts money to help departments get through June 30
Richmond Sheriff Antionette V. Irving has gained the $2.13 million she needs this month to issue paychecks every two weeks to her deputies.
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City center vision
NH Foundation looks to new coliseum to spur major redevelopment in Downtown
How do you build a $220 million coliseum for Richmond without putting up any money?