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Rejected casino group threats legal challenge to city selection process
Dennis Cotto has spent much of his adult life fighting legal battles.
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Black History Month and the audacity to achieve
Black History Month. Dare we say those three words alone or in a sentence?
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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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Bubba Wallace claims victory, history as first Black to win NASCAR Cup Series since 1963
The hard part wasn’t dodging his way around a crash and then driving to the front of the field at Talladega Superspeedway. That was just instinct for Bubba Wallace.
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Casino vote aftermath
Stoney, Spanberger declare bids for governor; Paul Goldman proposes charter change
Mayor Levar M. Stoney is brushing himself off after Richmond voters for the second time rejected the $562 million casino-resort plan he fully backed and gearing up to run for governor in 2025. Separately, Paul Goldman, who led both successful no casino campaigns, is now focusing on securing public support for a change to the City Charter or constitution that would require the mayor and the City Council to put the city’s children first when it comes to spending tax dollars.
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Justice Dept. opens investigation into Gray’s death; officers charged
There’s an uneasy quiet in Baltimore after six police officers were charged last week in the mysterious death of Freddie Gray while he was in their custody. Underneath the calm simmers apprehension and anger in the African-American community — ready to erupt again at any moment — if there’s another incident of police brutality against a black man in the town known as “Charm City.” That grim reality was clear Monday afternoon when angry community members and officers in riot gear quickly converged in West Baltimore after an erroneous TV report stated police had shot and perhaps fatally injured a young African-American man who was seen running away from pursuing officers.
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Personality: Debra Sue Sims Fleisher
Spotlight on chair of 2015 Active Aging Week
Debra Sue Sims Fleisher has had a passion for exercising ever since she was a child. “My mother says that, as a little girl, I would dance to the sound of the washing machine. And I do remember dancing with a doorknob as my partner,” she recalls.
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Stories to inspire a better community being told
The Hippodrome Theater in Richmond’s historic Jackson Ward was buzzing Saturday evening as 400 people of all ages and races — from young adult hipsters to older city dwellers — mingled with drinks in hand while a DJ rocked the turntables. They were there for “Secret Stories of Self-Determined Change,” a sold-out event organized by UnMonumental in collaboration with Untold RVA and Secretly Y’all.
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Madonna, Stevie Wonder pay homage to Prince at Billboard Music Awards
Madonna paid homage to Prince by wearing his signature color and bringing another icon, Stevie Wonder, onstage to sing the classic “Purple Rain” at Sunday’s Billboard Music Awards. Sitting atop a purple throne, Madonna kicked off the tribute with a version of “Nothing Compares 2 U,” which Prince wrote and Sinead O’Connor recorded. She was teary-eyed as she sang the song, videos and photos of Prince projected behind her.
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Justices take on I.C. Norcom Friday in state tournament
John Marshall High School is among the smallest schools in the Virginia High School League’s 3A classification. It also ranks with the state’s 3A elite, at least basketball-wise. Relying on multitasking athletes such as Xavier Trent and Isaiah Anderson, Coach Ty White’s Justices are hopeful of a second state basketball title in three years.
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Who are the Black Hebrew Israelites?
On Dec. 10, two individuals opened fire on a kosher supermarket in Jersey City, N.J. The violent attack — which occurred shortly after the assailants allegedly killed a police officer in a nearby cemetery — ultimately left three bystanders dead and three people wounded, including two police officers.
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U.S. Supreme Court hears Muslim travel ban arguments
The U.S. Supreme Court has so far had little to say about Donald Trump’s time as president, even as the nation has moved from one Trump controversy to another. That’s about to change.
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Thanksgiving food, fellowship at area events
Thanksgiving is a time for family, friends and fellowship. But it also can be a stressful and lonely time for others.
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Popular Richmond musician Herbert Allen ‘Debo’ Dabney III dies at 68
Herbert Allen “Debo” Dabney III, a popular and beloved Richmond musician, died Thursday, April 9, 2020. He was 68.
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Safe bets
More than 488,000 voters cast ballots in Tuesday’s Democratic primary, choosing former Gov. Terry McAuliffe, Delegate Hala S. Ayala and Attorney General Mark R. Herring to carry the banner in November
After casting her ballot Tuesday at a North Side precinct, Justine Farmer said she felt she had to go with a familiar Democrat who could win in the fall. That’s why the Richmond office worker said she voted for former Gov. Terry McAuliffe, the happy warrior of Virginia politics who appears to draw energy from being on the campaign trail.
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Eruption
Baltimore wracked by outrage as protesters turn violent. City, nation look for answers about race, police brutality.
Just hours after Loretta Lynch’s historic swearing in as the new U.S. attorney general and the first African-American woman to lead the Justice Department, mayhem erupted Monday in the streets of Baltimore following the funeral for Freddie Gray. The 25-year-old Mr. Gray died of severe injuries on April 19, a week after being arrested, handcuffed and tossed into a police van. His spine was nearly severed and his larynx was crushed while in police custody, authorities have reported.
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House Democrats set to boycott Trump inauguration on Friday
Donald Trump made his name with opulent hotels and a dramatic reality TV show. But his inauguration on Friday, Jan. 20, as the nation’s 45th president is shaping up as a more understated affair, with big names in entertainment staying away. Also staying away are more than 50 Congressional Democrats who plan to boycott in protest of the New York
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Personality: LaShara Smith
Spotlight on president of Richmond Professionals Chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers
The engineering profession needs more African-Americans, including women. That’s the word from LaShara Smith, president of the Richmond Professionals Chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers.
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Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel, ‘conscience of the world,’ dies at 87
Elie Wiesel, the Holocaust survivor and Nobel Peace Prize winner whose memories of persecution and teachings on tolerance made him one of the world’s most revered moral voices, has died at 87. “My husband was a fighter,” Marion Wiesel said in a statement. “He fought for the memory of the 6 million Jews who perished in the Holocaust, and he fought for Israel. He waged countless battles for innocent victims regardless of ethnicity or creed.”
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New National Museum of African American History and Culture opens to fanfare, tears
Black history officially has a new, prominent place in America’s story. With hugs, tears and the ringing of a church bell, the new Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture opened its doors last Saturday to help this nation understand, reconcile and celebrate African-Americans’ often-ignored contributions toward making this country what it is today.
