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Kamras releases details of approved schools cuts
Richmond Public Schools Superintendent Jason Kamras made public on Monday details of the 74 positions to be eliminated in a $300 million budget plan that was adopted Feb. 25 by the Richmond School Board.
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Work begins in Creighton Court
Work is finally underway to restore heat in 12 buildings in the Creighton Court public housing community, a failure of a basic service that has come to symbolize the deteriorating state of Richmond’s “public housing stock.”
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Hometown welcome
Basketball star Frank Mason III returns to Petersburg, fan honors
Frank Mason III left Petersburg High School in 2012 with stars in his eyes but with no guarantees of success. What has followed since for the young basketball player is anything but typical. The 23-year-old son of Sharon Harrison and Frank Mason Jr. returned home last weekend, having dramatically reached the stars — even dancing among them.
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Washington Nats manager Dusty Baker recalls his ‘heckuva good time’ in Richmond
It has been 45 years since he last swung a bat at the former Parker Field, but Dusty Baker remembers Richmond. Graciously, Baker, the current Washington Nationals manager, granted an interview to the Free Press on May 28, prior to the Nats’ home game with St. Louis.
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Cops who hate, by Oscar H. Blayton
America can no longer stick its head in the sand to avoid seeing the serious flaws in the culture of American policing.
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RPS data suggests student improvement despite SOL scores
Richmond Public Schools student Standard of Learning (SOL) scores are among the lowest in the state of Virginia this year.
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School Board demands third-party investigation into June 6 shooting
Richmond Public School leaders have demanded a third-party investigation into the events and RPS actions leading up to the mass shooting in Monroe Park following the Huguenot High School graduation ceremony on June 6 that led to the deaths of graduate Shawn Jackson and his stepfather, Renzo Smith.
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Exoneration in Malcolm X’s death no surprise, by A. Peter Bailey
Serious Malcolmites, including myself, were neither surprised nor shocked by the exonerations last week of Muhammad Abdul Aziz, known in 1965 as Norman 3X Butler, and Khalil Islam, known as Thomas 15X Johnson, as assassins of Brother Malcolm X on Feb. 21, 1965.
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RVA Bandits compete for football championships this weekend
Darryl H. Johnston fondly remembers playing youth football growing up in Richmond. Frustrated that the city’s parks and recreation department was no longer fielding a team at the Broad Rock Sports Complex where he played as a child, the 32-year-old Atlantic City, N.J., native started a program in August.
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Ben Jealous to run for gov. in Md.
Former national NAACP President Benjamin Todd Jealous is launching a political career. Perhaps recently best known as a surrogate for Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, Mr. Jealous confirmed this week that he is running for governor of Maryland. He cited his long record of civil rights activism and the diversity of the state of Maryland as being in his favor.
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No fear of shrill conservatives
The shrill conservative Ann Coulter has made headlines because the University of California, Berkeley, wouldn’t let her speak at the end of April. She was invited by college Republicans, but her appearance threatened to incite violence as activists on the left and on the right prepared to either protest or support her appearance.
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Pro-Confederate legislators make run to save symbols
Veto that bill, governor. That’s the cry from members of the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus after the Republican-dominated General Assembly approved a bill that would bar localities from removing Confederate hate symbols from public property. “I voted against it, but now we can only hope that that the governor will use his veto pen,” said Delegate Jennifer L. McClellan.
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Gov. Northam speaks at VUU Community Leaders Breakfast
Gov. Ralph S. Northam addressed the 41st Annual Community Leaders Breakfast last Friday honoring the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with a message of valuing Virginia’s diversity and the collective responsibility of supporting each other as the state moves forward.
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Ambassadors’ to help RRHA families with virtual learning
Three public agencies have partnered to ensure that families in the city’s public housing communities have the technical tools and resources to ensure effective daily virtual learning for their children.
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Virginia Repertory Theatre presents “Gospel Nativity” this weekend
Virginia Repertory Theatre will present “Gospel Nativity,” a special holiday show as a workshop at 7 p.m. Dec 16 and 17 in the Jessie Bogese Theatre at Virginia Rep Center for Arts and Education, 4202 Hermitage Road.
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A fast track to offsetting the child care crisis
National Preschool Teachers Appreciation Day was March 15, an opportunity to recognize and celebrate the community heroes who play an important role in teaching and shaping young minds.
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Jackson Ward church hosts Social Justice Weekend
Sixth Mount Zion Baptist Church in Jackson Ward is hosting a “Social Justice Weekend” Saturday, Nov. 14, and Sunday, Nov. 15.
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50 Cent out of dollars?
Rapper and actor 50 Cent filed for federal bankruptcy protection Monday, days after a jury ordered him to pay $5 million in an invasion-of-privacy lawsuit.
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City hiring precinct workers for Nov. 7 election
Wanted: 200 people to work the polls on Election Day. Richmond Voter Registrar Kirk Showalter announced Monday that she is recruiting precinct officers for the next election on Tuesday, Nov. 7.
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Miss local baseball? You can still get the food
With the coronavirus pandemic, fans are missing baseball. And some are missing ballpark food.