Story
Mayor Stoney outlines new plan for city in State of City address
The Pulse lanes on Broad Street and in other parts of Richmond will be painted red thanks to a state grant to improve safety for drivers and pedestrians.
Story
On probation
VUU has a year to meet financial accreditation standards
Virginia Union University remains optimistic of lifting the dark cloud that hangs over its accreditation – a key requirement for its students to access federal student loans – despite record enrollment, a strengthened academic program and increased donations.
Story
With passion and purpose
Nearing retirement, Debra Carlotti has helped empower children and parents for decades
Richmond Public Schools educator Debra Carlotti was born in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, N.Y., a place that is a lot more trendy now than when she grew up there in the 1950s and 1960s, she said.
Story
Family of Black girls handcuffed by Colorado police, held at gunpoint reach $1.9M settlement
The four Black girls lay facedown in a parking lot, crying “no” and “mommy” as a police officer who had pointed her gun at them then bent down to handcuff two of their wrists. The youngest wore a pink tiara as she held onto her teenage cousin’s hand.
Story
Petersburg roils with turmoil
There’s trouble in Petersburg. Petitions are being circulated to remove Petersburg Mayor W. Howard Myers. Separately, a majority of the Petersburg City Council has voted to begin talks to remove Petersburg City Manager William E. Johnson III and City Attorney Brian K. Telfair, although some are questioning whether the action came at a legal meeting. All of this comes as residents are venting over the way the city is being managed, over sky-high water bills and about property tax bills that are arriving close to the deadline for payment.
Story
Remnants of the Confederacy
The statue of Gen. J.E.B. Stuart, the last of the four city-owned Confederate statues on Monument Avenue, was taken down and moved to storage Tuesday
The former capital of the Confederacy has largely been wiped clean of the racist statuary that has long dominated the landscape.
Story
Jimmy Carter still drawing devotees to church
The pilgrims arrive early and from all over, gathering hours before daybreak in an old pecan grove that surrounds a country church. They come, they say, for a dose of simple decency and devotion wrapped up in a Bible lesson. The teacher is the 39th president of the United States, Jimmy Carter.
Story
President Trump fires Attorney General Jeff Sessions
U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions was fired on Wednesday after receiving unrelenting criticism from President Trump for recusing himself from an investigation into Russia’s role in the 2016 presidential race.
Story
Beyonce Mass draws crowd, criticism
The worship service began with the voice of Beyoncé singing “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” the Black National Anthem. Over the next hour, a choir-backed quintet of African-American women singers belted out other songs in the pop star’s repertoire. Beyoncé’s music filled the air between prayers, a sermon and a Communion-like time when congregants dropped rocks labeled “homophobia,” “body shaming” and “racism” into white plastic buckets that were placed before an onstage altar.
Story
House of Delegates to become more diverse
The Virginia House of Delegates will be more diverse and more Democratic in January as a result of Tuesday’s elections. Voters in districts across the state produced shocker after shocker as Democrats unexpectedly won at least 15 new seats in the 100-seat House to come close to controlling the General Assembly’s lower chamber.
Story
ELECTION 2020: City Council candidates tell their plans
I decided to become a candidate for Richmond City Council because:
Story
Mary Frances Warden Lambert remembered
The Richmond community is remembering and celebrating the life of Mrs. Lambert, who nourished the souls and spirits of countless people with her gentle kindness and a popular catering business that was famous throughout the area and beyond.
Story
Unsheltered
Plans to house the homeless in Shockoe Valley disappear
Plans for a year-round shelter open around the clock for the homeless have suddenly evaporated seven months after being announced.
Story
NPS grant to help preserve historic elementary school
'This will allow us to dream ... it will allow restoration and interpretation’
A Cumberland County school that was part of a vibrant African-American community for nearly 50 years is getting help from the National Park Service to preserve its location.
Story
Youngkin inaugural plans include pricey dinner, music acts
Incoming Gov. Glenn A. Youngkin is planning a celebratory inaugural weekend that will include a mix of high-dollar ticketed events and other functions open to the public, according to a program that also touts an appearance by an unspecified Grammy-winning musical artist.
Story
Into the future
Heading into 2022, Mayor Stoney details his focus for Richmond’s growth and opportunities in the coming years
Mayor Levar M. Stoney is bullish on Richmond as he prepares to begin his sixth year in the city’s top elected office.
Story
Crackdown
Attorney General’s Office of Civil Rights goes after possible housing discrimination by filing 13 lawsuits against 29 area companies that allegedly refused to accept renters using federal housing vouc
Owners and operators of apartment complexes in Richmond and across the state commonly have rejected rental applications from people using federal government-backed Housing Choice Vouchers to pay.
Story
‘King Richard’ is a crowd pleaser
Once upon a time, in the low-income neighborhood of Compton in Los Angeles, a doting father and smart mother have a keen vision for two of their offspring: “Venus and Serena gonna shake up this world.”
Story
Grammy winner, Prince tour manager credits ‘Tiger Tom’ Mitchell with his start
Re “Broadcast legend ‘Tiger Tom’ Mitchell dies,” Free Press July 13-15 edition: When my family moved to Richmond from up North in 1959, I was a somewhat naïve, pimply-faced kid at a segregated, all-white junior high school, with a budding affection for black music.
Story
Collaboration helps erase graffiti at historic cemeteries
Nearly three weeks after historical African- American and Jewish cemeteries were tagged with graffiti, volunteers and other workers have cleaned the marks — “777” — that were spraypainted on headstones and entrances to Evergreen, East End, Barton Heights and Sir Moses Montefiore cemeteries, including the gravesite of noted businesswoman Maggie L. Walker.
