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Housing programs jeopardized in Trump budget by Charlene Crowell
Once again, the White House budget proposal slashes funding and programs that many low- and moderate-income consumers rely upon.
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#ReclaimingYourVote by Marc H. Morial
“Voter suppression isn’t guns and hoses and bully clubs and Bull Connor. It’s administrative burdens that interfere with your right to vote. In the South, they try to stop you from getting on the rolls ... and to stay on the rolls ... and have your ballot be counted. We need our democracy to work, we need poverty to end, we need disenfranchisement to be a thing of the past, because when people are suppressed or oppressed it rages. It may be silent for some time but eventually it will come out.” – Stacey Abrams, former Georgia lawmaker and gubernatorial candidate
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Thanks to City Council for voting down the Coliseum plan
Re “Begin again: City Council majority strikes $1.5B Coliseum and Downtown development project, urging the administration to start over with public inclusion,” Free Press Feb. 13-15 edition:
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‘Confederate monuments speak truth to power’
Re “Confederate statues in State Capitol remain unaddressed,” Free Press Feb. 13-15 edition:
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According to the regional Girl Scouts organization, the cookie program teaches youth members key life skills as they raise money to support the operation and …
Published on February 21, 2020
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Councilwoman to challenge Stoney for mayor, sources say
For months, City Councilwoman Kim B. Gray, 2nd District, has been the only person mentioned as a possible opponent to Mayor Levar M. Stoney in his November re-election bid.
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Life as they know it: Homeless residents of Cathy's Camp tent city talk about drawbacks of leaving
Money and comfort are among the reasons that the homeless encampment across from the Richmond Justice Center is still standing and the city’s goal of dismantling it is still unrealized.
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Virginia emerges as the South's progressive leader under Dems
In a state once synonymous with the Old South, Democrats are using their newfound legislative control to refashion Virginia as the region’s progressive leader on racial, social and economic issues.
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Thelma M. Robinston, longtime Richmond educator, dies at 99
Fueled by a love of education, Thelma Mealy Robinson rose from teacher to principal to assistant superintendent during a career largely with Richmond Public Schools that spanned more than 40 years.
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Catholic Diocese of Richmond launches new victims compensation process
The Catholic Diocese of Richmond wants to ensure that people who were victims of sexual abuse by priests and deacons are compensated as part of its efforts “to assist in the healing.”
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VUU to take on VSU Feb. 22 at Barco-Stevens Hall
The rematch between Virginia Union and Virginia State universities on Saturday, Feb. 22, might be billed “No. 1 scorer versus No. 1 team.”
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Memories of Kobe Bryant flood All-Star Game
Team LeBron won the game. Anthony Davis scored the game-clinching point. Kawhi Leonard was MVP. But memories of Kobe Bry- ant garnered people’s attention and thoughts the most at last Sunday’s 69th NBA All-Star Game in Chicago.
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Cathy's Camp
The Bible tells us, “The poor will always be with you.” But Richmond has got to find a better way to help people in need. Latest case in point: The people living in the Cathy’s Camp tent city.
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Ditch the fear by Dr. E. Faye Williams
With all the fear-mongering, the unjust firings, transfers, name-calling, the profanity-laced rantings, the lying, the mean-spirited actions, the early negative predictions about the Democratic Party and its candidates, one could just give up and ask, “What’s the use of trying to make a difference about anything?”
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Begin Again
City Council majority strikes $1.5B Coliseum and Downtown development project, urging the administration to start over with public inclusion
Start over — and this time include the public. That’s the cry from the five members of Richmond City Council who followed through Monday night in eliminating the $1.5 billion Coliseum replacement and Downtown redevelopment plan, just as they said they would do when the nine-member governing body met last week as a committee.
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Confederate statues in State Capitol remain unaddressed
As the General Assembly wrestles over whether to give localities the right to control their Confederate monuments, their debate is being waged in the State Capitol — a virtual shrine to the Confederacy.
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VUU surprised by $1M announcement on Founders Day
Virginia Union University President Hakim J. Lucas stood before an audience of more than 350 students, faculty, alumni, trustees and dignitaries last Friday to remember the past and mark the path to the future at the university’s 155th Anniversary Founders Day Convocation.
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RPS gets break on $3.32M city stormwater bill
Tear up that bill. That’s what Mayor Levar M. Stoney told the Richmond School Board to do with a $3.32 million bill for unpaid stormwater fees that has accumulated over 10 years.
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New research reconsiders writings of enslaved Muslim scholar
He was from Senegal, wrote in Arabic and was enslaved. Or was he an Arab prince? He was a scholar who memorized vast passages of the Quran and mastered numerous Islamic texts. Or were his writings unintelligible? He was a devout Muslim. Or did he convert to Christianity? These are just some of the conflicting narratives about Omar ibn Said (or more correctly Sayyid), a black Muslim scholar captured in Senegal in 1807 and taken by boat to Charleston, S.C.
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Love Stories
The Free Press proudly presents its annual Valentine’s Day feature sharing the Love Stories of four Richmond area couples.
Neither of us attended graduate school with the intentions of finding a soulmate, but that’s the thing about love — it doesn’t much care about your plans.