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True calling
Kiara S. Thompson, Richmond’s Teacher of the Year, followed her heart and turned to teaching more than six years ago
Kiara Shenae Thompson was on her way to becoming a biologist and health care worker when she volunteered at a community center tutoring elementary and middle school students in science concepts and found what she considers her true calling — teaching.
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VP Harris urges grads to tackle problems in unsettled world
Vice President Kamala Harris urged graduates of Tennessee State University on Saturday to apply their leadership skills to help tackle the multitude of challenges posed by an unsettled world.
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Personality: Dr. Kate Hoof
Spotlight on board president of Richmond Cycling Corps
Dr. Kate Hoof is helping Richmond kids put the pedal to the metal.
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Arthur D. ‘Art’ Toth Jr., owner of the former La Grande Dame, dies at 65
For nearly 30 years, Arthur David “Art” Toth Jr. was the go-to person in Richmond for full-figured women who wanted to dress well.
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Black Catholic nuns: A compelling, long-overlooked history
Even as a young adult, Shannen Dee Williams – who grew up Black and Catholic in Memphis, Tenn.,–knew of only one Black nun, and a fake one at that: Sister Mary Clarence, as played by Whoopi Goldberg in the comic film “Sister Act.”
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History marker going up for Shockoe Hill African Burying Ground; mixed results on Confederate markers
A new state history marker to a long forgotten Black cemetery in Richmond is on the way, while two highway markers to the city’s Confederate past have been removed.
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City Council approves new 2022-23 budget
The new blueprint for City Hall spending after July 1 that includes significant pay jumps for city employees is now in place.
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Fox students get warm welcome at Clark Springs Elementary building
Students from Fox Elementary School started their first day of classes Monday at their new home—Clark Springs Elementary School, which will be their temporary campus for the remainder of the school year.
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RPS chief operating officer quits
Alana Gonzalez, the chief operating officer for Richmond Public Schools, has submitted her resignation, effective Friday, May 20.
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City Council wants more time to study, consider collective bargaining
City Council hit the pause button Monday on authorizing collective bargaining for city employees.
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Pastor Anthony Franklin Sr. sees his mission as giving back where a community has needs
For years, Pastor Anthony Franklin Sr. struggled to pay the rent and keep the lights on for the small non-denominational Richmond church he founded called Truth Ministries.
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Washington Commanders hope to score big this season with new draftees
The NFL team in Washington has been spinning its wheels for years. The club now called the Commanders has gone 31-50 since its last winning season in 2016 (8-7-1).
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Samantha Cunningham of VSU earns All-CIAA honors
Virginia State University softball slug- ger Samantha Cunningham went out with a bang, or rather a sharp ping from her metal alloy bat. In her final season wearing the Trojans’ orange and blue, the senior third base player from Waukegan, Ill., earned All-CIAA hon- ors while leading the conference in hitting at .467. Cunningham finished with 13 doubles, three home runs, 29 runs batted in and struck Delaware State president, athletes decry search of team bus by Georgia deputies Associated Press SAVANNAH, Ga. The president of Delaware State University, a historically Black college, accused sheriff’s deputies in Georgia of intimidating and humiliating the university’s women’s lacrosse team when deputies pulled over the athletes’ bus and searched it for drugs. Delaware State University President Tony Allen said he’s “incensed” by the April 20 traffic stop along Interstate 95 south of Savannah as the team returned from a game in Florida. In a letter to students and faculty, Dr. Allen said nothing illegal was found and campus officials were “exploring options for recourse — legal and otherwise.” “We do not intend to let this or any other incident like it pass idly by,” Dr. Allen said in the letter posted Monday on the university’s social media pages. Liberty County, Ga., Sheriff William Bowman, who is Black, said Tuesday his office is conducting a formal review of the traffic stop. He said deputies had stopped other commercial vehicles the same morning along I-95 and found drugs on a different bus. The team’s chartered bus was stopped because it was traveling in the left lane, which is a violation of Georgia law, he said. The sheriff said deputies decided to search the team’s bus when a drug-sniffing dog “alerted” alongside it. “I do not exercise racial profiling, allow racial profiling or encourage racial profiling,” Sheriff Bowman told reporters. The sheriff added that based on what he already knows, “I believe the stop was legal.” No one was arrested or charged. The sheriff said the bus driver was given a warning. Video posted online by one of the Delaware State lacrosse players shows two white deputies on the bus. One of them tells the bus passengers that possessing marijuana remains illegal in Georgia. “If there is anything in y’all’s luggage, we’re probably going to find it, OK,” the deputy says. “I’m not looking for a little bit of marijuana, but I’m pretty sure you guys’ chaperones are probably going to be disappointed in you if we find any.” The deputy continues : “You guys are on a lacrosse team, correct? If there is something in there that is questionable, please tell me now. Because if we find it, guess what? We’re not going to be able to help you.” Sydney Anderson, the student who posted the video, wrote in the campus publication The Hornet Newspaper that team members felt there was “underlying racism” behind the search. “The team members were in shock, as they witnessed the of- ficers rambling through their bags,” Ms. Anderson wrote. “They brought the K-9 dog out to sniff their luggage. The cops began tossing underwear and other feminine products, in an attempt to locate narcotics.” Georgia courts have held that the odor of marijuana is enough to give police probable cause to search vehicles without a warrant. The sheriff said he welcomes feedback from the lacrosse team. “We realize that in this current environment, even a traffic stop can be alarming to citizens, especially African-Americans,” Sheriff Bowman said. out only four times in more than 100 plate appearances. Earning second team honors for the Trojans were designated player Macy Beville from nearby Dinwiddie and pitcher Alaijah Pratt from Lusby, Md. Also, Pratt and Desmyn Owens of Lawrenceville made the All-Freshman team. Under first-year Coach Jameshia Smith, VSU finished 20-13 overall and 13-4 in the CIAA. The Trojans’ season ended with a 6-4 loss to Bowie State University on May 7 in the loser’s bracket final of the CIAA Tournament in Glen Allen.
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Delaware State president, athletes decry search of team bus by Georgia deputies
The president of Delaware State University, a historically Black college, accused sheriff’s deputies in Georgia of intimidating and humiliating the university’s women’s lacrosse team when deputies pulled over the athletes’ bus and searched it for drugs.
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’A Strange Loop’ earns a leading 11 Tony Award nominations
“A Strange Loop,” Michael R. Jackson’s critically cheered theater meta-journey earned a leading 11 Tony Award nominations Monday as Broadway joined the national discussion of race by embracing an envelope-pushing Black-written and Black-led musical.
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Roe v. Wade and the far right’s extreme plans, by Ben Jealous
Things are about to get worse for millions of vulnerable people in our country.
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Black History Museum saving Confederate statues: Let’s talk about it, by Sa’ad El-Amin
On Jan. 24, a resolution to transfer the title and ownership to the Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia of the five Confederate statues that were removed from Monument Avenue—including four of which the City of Richmond has owned for more than 100 years — was approved by a unanimous vote of Richmond City Council.
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‘The government should not butt in’ on abortions
I am a 59-year-old woman who believes in life. I am against abortion, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a good reason for a woman to get an abortion.
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State employee excoriates Virginia’s new return-to-the-workplace policy
I am underpaid, I am tired and I am frustrated.
