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Published on April 16, 2020
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Surviving — and thriving — through the pandemic, by Dr. Dwaun J. Warmack
Before the unimaginable disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Claflin University was teeming with unbridled optimism, buoyed by the recognition the university and the men’s basketball program had received during the 2020 CIAA Basketball Tournament in Charlotte, N.C.
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Personality: Darius A. Johnson
Spotlight on Medical College of Virginia Foundation board chair
Darius A. Johnson says the heart of who he is as a person can be traced to his parents, Jerome J. Johnson and Roslyn A. Johnson, and his sister, Leslie N. Johnson.
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Reclaiming history
St. Luke building, first home of Maggie L. Walker’s bank, is being turned into upscale apartments to spur development in Gilpin Court
Upscale apartments are taking shape in the long-empty St. Luke Building, the once vital four-story headquarters of a mutual aid society where renowned Richmond businesswoman Maggie L. Walker once had a bank.
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Frank Mason III hopes to become next small man in NBA
The NBA is something of a real-life Brobdingnag, that fictional land of giants in the novel “Gulliver’s Travels.” How else to describe a population with more men taller than 6-foot-9 than under 6 feet?
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Published on May 27, 2016
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Dr. Reavis to retire as seminary president
Fifteen years ago, Dr. Ralph Reavis Sr. went to Lynchburg to save his alma mater, Virginia University of Lynchburg. Now the former Richmond pastor is preparing to step down as president of the historically black Baptist college and seminary that he believes has been restored to full health — with more than 10 times the enrollment than when he started. “When I got here, there were only 32 students on campus,” Dr. Reavis said. Today, more than 400 students are taking courses on the campus, online or in a satellite program on the Northern Neck in Eastern Virginia.
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Reva rebels
Councilwoman gives out city officials’ cell phone numbers
City Councilwoman Reva M. Trammell registered her protest against new restrictions on City Council members directly contacting city administrative staff by publicly announcing the cell phone numbers of Mayor Levar M. Stoney and other top officials.
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City seeks court order authorizing 2nd casino referendum
City Hall is rushing to secure a Richmond Circuit Court order to authorize a second casino referendum in November before the General Assembly can block it through budget language, the Free Press has learned.
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Barksdale a ‘first’ as NBA All-Star
The 1951 and 1952 All-Star games were all white, although the league had admitted four African-Americans in 1950 — Chuck Cooper, Earl Lloyd, Sweetwater Clifton and Hank DeZone. Another Barksdale “first:” He was the first African-American to play basketball against the University of Kentucky in Lexington. In 1948, Barksdale played for the AAU Phillips 66ers in an outdoor exhibition in Lexington against Coach Adolph Rupp’s Kentucky Wildcats. Rupp, coach of the 1948 Olympic team, was so impressed with Barksdale that he selected him for the U.S. team. Later in life, Barksdale became a popular disc jockey and was the first African- American to host a TV show in the San Francisco Bay area on KRON-TV with Sepia Review. Don Barksdale died in 1993 at age 69.
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J.E.B. Stuart Elementary headed for a new name
The Richmond School Board signaled its intent to rename J.E.B. Stuart Elementary School, is named for a Confederate cavalry leader.
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Keep moving forward: VSU panel reflects on Dr. King’s words
U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner said the storming of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 directly op- poses all that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. stood for. “Unfortunately a little over a week ago, we saw incredible hordes of thugs invade the United States Capitol (and) try to take the law into their own hands in a way that was the antithesis of everything Dr. King stood for,” Sen. Warner said Monday in video remarks kicking off a Martin Luther King Jr. Day event at Virginia State University that was broadcast online.
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Bike races hit bumps on the way to big start
The city’s grand plan to showcase itself to the world for the 2015 UCI Road World Championships is hitting some speed bumps.
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Nation’s victory
Pundits across the nation are hailing the past few days as “the best week ever” for President Obama. That’s in large measure because of landmark rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court upholding the federal Affordable Care Act and legalizing same-sex marriage nationwide.
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City day care program rolls out with waiting list
The new school year launched Tuesday with all classes online in Richmond, but the promise of a robust, city-supported day care program for children of working parents and for parents with weak links to the internet has yet to be fulfilled — and it is unclear when it will be.
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3 team up to find new home for Squirrels in Boulevard area
Public pressure to keep baseball on the Boulevard appears to be having an impact. In a new effort, Mayor Dwight C. Jones is teaming up with the Richmond Flying Squirrels and Virginia Commonwealth University to find a site for a new ballpark near The Diamond, but not on the 60 acres of public property the city wants to redevelop.
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VSU facing possible $26M deficit, enrollment drop
Virginia State University has become a prime example of the financial hits historically black colleges and universities are taking because of the coronavirus.
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City plans public awareness campaign about trash fee exemption
Christine Page rents a house in the 1700 block of North 19th Street, and her monthly utility bill has always included $23.79 for trash and recycling collection. She was surprised to learn that she could apply to the city to remove the fee from the bill without any impact on her service.
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Shake-up
10 RPS principals out, 7 others on warning, sources report
Ten Richmond schools will have new principals next fall as part of a leadership shake-up that Richmond Public Schools Superintendent Jason Kamras is undertaking as part of his schools improvement plan, the Free Press has learned.
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General Assembly needs to come into the light
Re “Wronged: Richmond police interactions pack sting, costs for 2 local men,” Feb. 19-21 edition: Having read Free Press staff writer Jeremy Lazarus’s articles, I found it necessary to respond and praise them.