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Rev. Clifford B. Chambliss Jr. dies at 81
The Rev. Clifford Boss Chambliss Jr. was just 25 when he was tapped to lead a new job training initiative that more senior Black min- isters were organizing to help people find work and escape poverty.
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Virginia Hayes remembered for her creative teaching
As a kindergarten and first grade teacher at Blackwell Elementary School, Virginia Hayes was concerned that too many children arrived with little knowledge of numbers, counting and the concepts of adding and subtracting. Ms. Hayes set out to change that in the early 1990s.
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Special education troubles continue for Virginia
VDOE labeled ‘deficient’ in its efforts to curtail learning loss
The Virginia Department of Education continues to shirk its responsibility to ensure students with mental and emotional disabilities secure a free, appropriate public education, or FAPE in educational jargon, according to the U.S. Department of Education.
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Council members link truancy to increased violence involving city youths
Richmond Public Schools needs to do more to ensure students are in class rather than roaming the streets, according to concerned members of City Council.
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Malinda S. Jones, who worked to spread faith, dies at 88
For 24 years, Malinda Smith Jones organized weekly revivals in Richmond in church parking lots and other open spaces from June through August.
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Richmond city attorney to retire
City Attorney Haskell C. Brown III will immediately leave City Hall’s top legal post in the wake of his arrest for drunken driving, the Free Press has learned.
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Gandy name may be eliminated by Hanover School Board
The Hanover School Board is moving to eliminate the name of John M. Gandy, the only Black person for whom a county school is named.
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Richmond Fire Department blazing through recruiting
When it comes to recruiting, the Richmond Department of Fire and Emergency Services stands head and shoulders above the rest of the city’s public safety departments.
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RRHA’s eviction rate increases
Housing unit applies ‘tough love’ to collect tenants’ back rent
Richmond’s public housing landlord continues to proceed more slowly than private landlords in seeking to oust residents who have built up large, unpaid rent balances.
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City Council approves solar program grant
A nonprofit group that has sought to prepare people to work in the burgeoning solar power field has gained financial help from City Hall.
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Richmond jazz legend has new release
William F. ‘Bill’ McGee has performed with The O’Jays, Fred Wesley, Patti LaBelle and more
Richmond-based jazz legend and civil rights leader William F. “Bill” McGee is releasing his latest CD, “Tree of Life,” Friday, March 17, through music streaming services and the website he owns and operates, 804jazz.com.
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Bettye Jean Branch Bragg, former Head Start aide, dies at age 80
Bettye Jean Branch Bragg touched the lives of hundreds of Richmond children during her 34 years as a teacher’s aide in Head Start, a program to prepare 3 and 4-year-olds for kindergarten and higher grades.
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Janet Rainey retires after 47 years of keeping records vital
Keeping records of the births, deaths, marriages and divorces that occur in Virginia may seem like dull work. Don’t tell that to Janet M. Rainey.
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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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American Federation of Government Workers union officials removed
Turmoil in the 2,500-member union representing workers at the Richmond Veterans Administration Medical Center in South Side is offering a cautionary tale for city employees who are now in the process of unionizing.
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DPU expects to soon restart disconnection of services
Thousands of Richmond families could lose water service, sewerage and/or natural gas service in the coming months for failing to pay their bills.
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Henrico woman’s invention provides clearer thermometer reads
Where do ideas for inventions come from? For Henrico County resident Casaundra L. Pugh, the eureka moment came during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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All adjourned
Lawmakers end session with lean budget and no mention of casino
Richmond casino advocates rejoiced as the General Assembly adjourned without blocking the city’s authority to hold a second referendum in November on whether the state’s capital city should host a casino-resort.
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Karl E. Bren, housing advocate, dies at 78
Tennessee transplant Karl Ellis Bren is being remembered for his influence and impact on affordable housing, environmental policy and homelessness during his 38 years in Richmond.
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Bagby wins ‘firehouse’ primary in quest for Senate seat
Henrico Delegate Lamont Bagby has made a fast start in his quest to succeed Jennifer L. McClellan in the state Senate.
