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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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Hilbert to mayor: Don’t veto City Council budget
Money allocated to fix potholes or plow streets cannot be used for picking up trash unless Richmond Mayor Levar M. Stoney secures approval to shift the funds from Richmond City Council.
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Gov. McAuliffe, end new Jim Crow voter suppression tactic
Imagine a wonderful parting gift from Gov. Terry McAuliffe. Imagine if Gov. McAuliffe put an end to Virginia’s strange and inexplicable participation in a GOP voter suppression trick that reeks of Jim Crow. Since 2013, this stealth voter purge program has cost tens of thousands of Virginians of color their right to vote. It’s called Interstate Crosscheck.
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GRTC to pilot on-demand service for elderly, disabled
Taxicab, Uber and Lyft drivers soon could be taking elderly and disabled people shopping, to the doctor and to other places in Richmond and Henrico County.
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$15M repaving effort underway in city
Cityscape: Slices of life and scenes in Richmond
The promised extra money is starting to flow into repaving streets across the city.
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New prescription disposal unit set up at Justice Center
Need to safely dispose of prescription drugs you no longer need or want in your medicine chest? Richmond Sheriff Antionette V. Irving is prepared to help.
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Biden administration says colleges must fight ‘alarming rise’ in antisemitism and Islamophobia
The Biden administration is warning U.S. schools and colleges that they must take immediate action to stop antisemitism and Islamophobia on their campuses, citing an “alarming rise” in threats and harassment.
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Troubled Essex Village apartments sold, renamed
Essex Village, once labeled Henrico County’s worst apartment complex, is now in the hands of a successful African-American property investment and development firm based in Baltimore.
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Woman raises concern over fees charged by court
In the world of local courts that seems to have an endless list of fees and costs, one thing has always been free: Subpoenas and summonses for witnesses in a criminal case. However, a recent incident has left a Richmond woman concerned that the policy has changed in Richmond Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court.
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Possible funding increase for city schools?
Mayor Levar M. Stoney’s administration is hinting that it might propose a $5 million increase in support for Richmond Public Schools’ operations in the new 2020 budget it will present next month to Richmond City Council.
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Father’s Day
What wisdom did your father instill in you?
Father’s Day will be celebrated Sunday, June 19, with people across the country grilling, baking cakes and cookies and buying ties for the man who has a special place in the hearts and lives of their family. In honor of fathers everywhere, the Free Press put the following question to several people
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Florida faith leader: Black history toolkit gains interest outside the state
When the Rev. Rhonda Thomas decided to create a toolkit to help teach Black history outside the public school system — after Florida legislators approved revisions to its required instruction — she expected Black churches like her own would be the ones to use it.
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Sign’s messages inspire passers-by
Motorists slow down and often do double takes as they drive by Chicago Avenue Baptist Church on South Side. The reason: The church at 2331 Broad Rock Blvd., led by Dr. Marlon Haskell, features lots of creative, eye-catching messages on its sign display.
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Trump and ‘Medi-scare’
Maybe Donald Trump really believes his hype about the “lying media.” That might explain why his effort to produce a commentary longer than a tweet contains enough falsehoods to have fact checkers working overtime.
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Civil War was about ‘secession, not slavery’, says reader
Marc H. Morial, in excoriating Nikki Haley, parrots the tiresome myth of American history by claiming the Civil War (which it was not, by definition) was “about” slavery, quoting slavery as one among the reasons for the secession of the Southern states.
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Lawmakers opt for study over elimination of jail, prison fees
Incarcerated people and their loved ones will continue to pay fees that advocates and some lawmakers say are too stiff.
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Students turn to TikTok to fill gaps in school lessons
Mecca Patterson-Guridy wants to learn, but for some subjects, she isn’t always comfortable asking her teachers. So she has been turning to TikTok.
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New book asks: What if Harry Potter attended an HBCU?
It all began with a post on Twitter. It was 2020 during the height of the pandemic and LaDarrion Williams was thinking about the lack of diversity in the fantasy genre. He proposed: “What if Harry Potter went to an HBCU in the South?”
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Flying Squirrels’ GRASP program seeks VUU, VSU applicants
The application process is underway for the $5,000 Richmond Flying Squirrels “34” Scholarship. .
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Plans to use city schools for day care program break down
Talks between City Hall and Richmond Public Schools over using five school buildings as day care sites have broken down.
