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Free COVID-19 testing, vaccines
COVID-19 testing is available at various drug stores, clinics and urgent care centers throughout the area for people with and without health insurance. Several offer tests with no out-of-pocket costs.
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Henrico Public Schools holds free vaccination clinics for middle and high school students
Henrico County Public Schools and the state Department of Health are offering free vaccination clinics for middle and high school students each Wednesday in July.
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Hundreds of RRHA families may face eviction after moratorium ends July 31
Hundreds of people living in public housing in Richmond could be at risk of eviction in the coming months as the last moratorium on tenant ousters for nonpayment expires July 31.
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Councilman Michael Jones blasts ‘blatant discrimination’ by state Board of Elections
In a stunning reversal, the state Board of Elections has voted 2-1 to allow seven white candidates extra time to file missing paperwork needed to qualify for the Nov. 2 general election ballot.
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Marijuana legalization comes with info, warnings from health officials
Treatment for chronic pain. Possible addiction. Improving muscle spasms. Mood changes.
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Judge dismisses effort to remove state Sen. Louise Lucas
A Chesapeake judge swiftly rebuked a conservative group’s effort July 2 to remove a Black state senator from office over her role in a protest that ended with heavy damage to a Confederate monument in Portsmouth.
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Players of color dominate AL lineup in MLB All-Star Game
Players of color will be front and center at next week’s Major League All-Star Game.
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’Let Sha’Carri run!’
Nearly 500,000 sign petition calling for her reinstatement in the Olympics
More than a half million fans are coming to the defense of America’s fastest woman, flamboyant track star Sha’Carri Richardson, who has been barred from Olympic competition over marijuana use after winning the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.86 seconds during the U.S. Olympic trials in Eugene, Ore., on June 19.
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Monument to activist-journalist Ida B. Wells unveiled in Chicago
A monument to journalist and civil rights activist Ida B. Wells was unveiled June 30 in Chicago.
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Will Smith paid for NOLA’s fireworks
Residents and visitors to New Orleans have actor Will Smith to thank for the fireworks display on Independence Day.
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‘National anthem doesn’t speak for me’, by Julianne Malveaux
Frances Scott Key, author of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” our national anthem, was a dyed-in-the-wool racist. He opined that “Negroes” were a “distinct and inferior race.” He was a slaveholder from a family of slaveholders who influenced the odious seventh President Andrew Jackson to appoint Roger B. Taney, the author of the Dred Scott decision (“Blacks have no rights that whites are bound to respect”) to the U.S. Supreme Court.
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Voting rights: What’s next after U.S. Supreme Court decision?, by Da’Quan Love
One step forward, two steps backward.
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Mayor and School Board must work out differences for sake of the city
Re “Community members call for School Board to work with city on new George Wythe,” Free Press June 24 edition:
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In this courtroom sketch, Hennepin County, Minn., District Judge Peter Cahill presides over the June 25 sentencing hearing for former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, …
Published on July 1, 2021
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Free Press honored with top awards in NNPA contest
The Richmond Free Press has received national recognition for its commitment to the local community with the Carl Murphy Award for community service presented by the National Newspaper Publishers Association.
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Derek Chauvin sentenced to 22 ½ years in murder of George Floyd
Not enough. That was the sentiment of the late George Floyd’s family members after former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chau- vin was sentenced late last week to 221⁄2 years in prison for the murder of Mr. Floyd in May 2020.
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RPS offers plan to boost student literacy
Nearly half of all Richmond students cannot read proficiently when they enter high school, leading to high dropout rates and a host of other ills, Richmond Public Schools acknowledges.
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Dr. Thelma Bland Watson, who was dedicated to advancing the needs of the elderly, dies at 70
Dr. Thelma Bland Watson was 9 when she began providing assistance to her maternal grandmother. That experience turned Dr. Watson into a champion for the elderly.

