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Personality: Vanessa Evans
Spotlight on president of the Richmond Alumnae Chapter, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.
Sorority life is a point of pride for Vanessa Evans.
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James William Cheagle, who fought discrimination in law enforcement, dies at 79
Retired Richmond Police Capt. James William Cheagle, who was a leader in fighting racial bigotry within the department, has died.
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Basketball icon Bill Russell dies
William Felton “Bill” Russell, the greatest team sports champion of all time and the NBA’s first Black superstar, died Sunday, July 31, 2022.
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The NMAAHC celebrates hip-hop with block party
The National Museum of African American History and Culture will host its first Hip- Hop Block Party on Saturday, Aug. 13 at the Washington, D.C. museum.
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City jail inmate charged for attacking deputy
It took three weeks, but a Richmond City Justice Center inmate with a long rap sheet has been charged with the malicious wounding July 7 of a female deputy whose jaw was shattered and who suffered other serious facial injuries in a brutal attack.
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Appreciation: Bill Russell lived a life like very few others
Bill Russell hated autographs. Saw no point to them. If he was out din- ing and got approached by someone asking for his signature, Mr. Russell’s usual response was to instead ask the person to join him at the table to have
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Conflict of interest sparks tense discussion for RPS School Board
The Arthur Ashe Jr. Athletic Center arose as a topic of discussion during the Richmond School Board meeting Monday night.
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City to exchange gift cards for rifles, handguns, broken weapons
Richmond’s first gun buyback program — largely regarded by experts as a publicity stunt — is set for 10 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 20, at Liberation Church, 5501 Midlothian Turnpike, Mayor Levar M. Stoney announced Tuesday.
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Judge, after slow process, tosses lawsuit seeking new Virginia elections
Members of the Virginia House of Delegates can continue to represent unconstitutional districts that the state Supreme Court abolished in December.
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Property owners given more time to apply for tax exemptions
Elderly and totally disabled property owners in Richmond will have the whole year to apply for exemptions from real estate taxes, beginning in January 2023.
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Cities face crisis as fewer kids enroll and schools shrink
On a recent morning inside Chalmers School of Excellence on Chicago’s West Side, five preschool and kindergarten students finished up drawings. Four staffers, including a teacher and a tutor, chatted with them about colors and shapes. The summer program offers the kind of one-on-one support parents love. But behind the scenes, Principal Romian Crockett worries the school is becoming precariously small.
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From the Free Press to the front office
From the Free Press to the front office St. Joe’s student-athlete flexes writing skills as summer news intern
Most journalists will tell you that nothing beats seeing your name in print or having something tangible that says to family, friends and future employers, “I did this.”
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Jackson Ward Collective hosts business conference
The term “Black Wall Street” is often associated with the prosperous residential and business community that was destroyed in the Tulsa, Okla., massacre 101 years ago. But there were similar places of prosperity in Black communities throughout the United States, including Richmond’s Jackson Ward.
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Virginia Court of Appeals denies Terrence Richardson’s innocence petition
An effort to free two Sussex County men sentenced to life in jail following the 1998 murder of a Waverly police officer continues to face major obstacles after a petition to exonerate one of the convicted men was rejected after months of legal deliberation.
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No charges for officer who pepper-sprayed Army lieutenant
A former police officer in Virginia should not be criminally charged but should be investigated for potential civil rights violations after he pepper-sprayed, struck and handcuffed a Black U.S. Army lieutenant during a 2020 traffic stop, a special prosecutor has determined.
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Who’s manning Richmond City Jail?
For several weeks the Richmond Free Press has reported ongoing violence at Richmond’s City Jail.
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Plan won’t end economic violence, by Julianne Malveaux
The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, signed into law on June 25, 2022, was a win for the Biden-Harris Administration.
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MAGA meets fascism, by Clarence Page
As much as I call myself a zealot for free speech, I also find it prudent sometimes to remember the value of not speaking. Or, at least, in pursuit of reasoned discourse I will seek a substitute that sounds less inflammatory.
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City Council collective bargaining vote is a win
I want to say kudos to Richmond City Council for voting and allowing most city employees to unionize.
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DOJ: Buffett company discriminated against Black homebuyers
A Pennsylvania mortgage company owned by billionaire businessman Warren Buffett’s company discriminated against potential Black and Latino homebuyers in Philadelphia, New Jersey and Delaware, the Department of Justice said Wednesday, in what is being called the second-largest redlining settlement in history. Trident Mortgage Co., a division of Berkshire Hathaway’s HomeServices of America, deliberately avoided writing mortgages in minority-majority neighborhoods in West Philadelphia such as Malcolm X Park; Camden, N.J.; and in Wilmington, Del., the Justice Department and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said in their settlement with Trident.
