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Monument rally peaceful as neo-Confederates met by counterprotesters
“Tear these racist statues down!” Those words, shouted by about 40 counterprotesters on Monument Avenue, drowned out attempts by about 15 neo-Confederates on Sunday to speak in support of keeping the statue of Confederate President Jefferson Davis on the tree-lined street.
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Ball now in Gov. Northam’s court on latest GOP redistricting plan
Can Virginia’s Republican House Speaker Kirk Cox cut a deal with Democratic Gov. Ralph S. Northam over a new, constitutional map for the 100 districts in the House of Delegates? That’s the big question that hangs over the release Tuesday of proposed GOP changes to House districts that Republican leaders call “race blind.”
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RRHA reconsidering plan to demolish Creighton Court
The city’s key public housing agency is rethinking its vision of demolishing the six major public housing communities in Richmond and replacing them with “mixed-income” neighborhoods to end the concentration of poverty.
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Creighton Court redevelopment project seeks $4.9M city bailout
The project to transform the poverty-stricken Creighton Court public housing area in the East End into a mixed-income development has run into a glitch — the master developer can’t raise all the money needed to construct the first 105 apartments.
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Personality: Earl Reid
Spotlight on the Military Retirees Club president
Earl Reid always knew he wanted to serve in the military, prompted in part by walking past the Military Retirees Club, which was not far from the Gilpin Court neighborhood in which he grew up.
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Vanishing notebooks
RPS officials report 12,100 laptops missing
On the heels of a scathing audit report, Richmond Public Schools is admitting that its own internal check has found that more than 1,600 laptops that were purchased have vanished, and that it does not know the whereabouts of another 10,558 laptops that are listed in the inventory.
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Faster legal sales of marijuana snuffed out; Black advocates cheer
The rush to start legal retail sales of marijuana next September has been snuffed out.
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Answers to COVID-19 questions
With eligibility for the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine expanded to children ages 12 to 15, and updates to mask mandates nationally and statewide, the Free Press has gathered answers from experts to common questions about these new developments:
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Stoney’s $3B proposal
Funding designed to make Richmond more liveable, despite increased gas, water bills
Record pay increases for Richmond city employees, along with hikes in spending on youth programming, affordable housing, public education and street paving.
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Good Samaritan Ministries opens summer camp
Pastor Michael D. McClary has spent nearly 30 years helping alcoholics and drug users in Richmond follow the Christian road to recovery that transformed him from an addict to a minister. The 65-year-old minister has undertaken the effort as the founder and executive director of the nonprofit Good Samaritan Ministries on South Side.
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Officer’s jobs program puts men on right side of law
Jeffrey Perry served 18 years in prison for his role in an armed robbery. Shaun Moore served two separate stints behind bars — seven months for possession of drugs with intent to distribute and, later, four months for failure to pay child support.
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House blocked for female felons
City Councilwoman Ellen F. Robertson has been a champion of affordable housing during her 11 years on City Council. The 6th District representative, who previously led a nonprofit housing group in the Highland Park area, has been a staunch advocate for creation of lower-cost homes and apartments for working people and others.
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Former UR player Justin Rogers hopes to secure Washington’s No. 25 jersey
Justin Rogers wants his face on the nickel. No, not the five-cent piece jingling in your pocket, but the Washington defensive backfield type of nickel. The nickel back — a fifth defensive back — has become almost as popular a term as “hail Mary” and “sack dance” in NFL lingo.
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Consultants find Petersburg is nearly broke
For interim Petersburg City Manager Tom Tyrell, Christmas and New Year’s cannot come too soon. That’s when property owners are supposed to pay their next quarterly bill for real estate taxes — and steer fresh revenue into the depleted Petersburg coffers.
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Richmond Christian Center again facing sale
The Richmond Christian Center, still struggling to emerge from bankruptcy after nearly four years, once again is facing the loss of its property in South Side.
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Huguenot High looking to be No.1 in ‘futbol’
Something you may want to know about Huguenot High School soccer is that the athletes and coaches hardly ever call it “soccer.”
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$8.3M RPS mystery
Meeting next month between School Board, City Council and Mayor’s Office to see what happens next
An $8.3 million surplus in the Richmond Public Schools’ budget that was disclosed during a recent Richmond City Council meeting is nothing out of the ordinary, according to Richmond School Board Chair Dawn Page.
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Former GOP presidential hopeful, Trump ally Herman Cain dies of COVID-19
Herman Cain, a former Republican presidential candidate and former CEO of a major pizza chain who went on to become an ardent supporter of President Trump, died Thursday, July 30, 2020, in an Atlanta hospital of complications from the coronavirus. He was 74.
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A real sickness
Forget the coronavirus. Would somebody please quarantine President Trump before he makes the nation sicker?
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Private contractors costing city big $ for snow removal
When snow falls in Richmond, City Hall is forced to pay big bucks to private contractors to clear the streets. The reason: Up to half of the aging fleet of city dump trucks that double as snowplows are usually parked, awaiting repairs, according to a new report from the Department of Public Works.
