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Petitions withdrawn seeking ouster of Petersburg officials
Petersburg Mayor Samuel D. Parham, 3rd Ward, and Councilman W. Howard Myers, 5th Ward, are keeping their city council seats.
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VSU Multipurpose Center opens to Trojans victories
You can call it Virginia State University or State of the Art University. VSU’s dazzling Multipurpose Center has emerged as the shining jewel of the CIAA. The grand opening last Saturday was a true celebration. The Trojans men’s and women’s basketball teams defeated Lincoln University and thousands of fans oohed and aahed at the new digs. “I’ve been to a lot of gyms, and what we have here is as nice as any I’ve seen in (the NCAA) Division II,” said VSU Coach Lonnie Blow.
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Tentative design, sculptor chosen for Emancipation Monument
Plans for a Richmond monument that pays tribute to the Emancipation Proclamation and enslaved Africans are moving forward three years after it was first proposed, according to a state commission that is spearheading the effort. The Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Commission has tentatively selected the sculptor and a potential design for the Emancipation Proclamation and Freedom Monument.
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Heating woes continue to plague Creighton Court residents
Tina Marie Smith finally has a working radiator on the first floor of her Creighton Court apartment. The only problem: It doesn’t produce much heat. And it hasn’t, she said, since maintenance workers from the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority installed it three weeks ago.
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Close vote expected on pairing North Side elementary schools
A close vote is expected on whether to pair elementary schools in North Side with majority-black and majority-white student populations.
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VUU president seeks dismissal of fraud lawsuit
Virginia Union University President Hakim J. Lucas is fighting back against an explosive lawsuit from his former employer, Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach, Fla.
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Commission selects 10 for Emancipation Proclamation and Freedom Monument on Brown’s Island
Two leaders of slave rebellions and a Union spy will be among the 10 people who will be featured on the planned Emancipation Proclamation and Freedom Monument to go up on Brown’s Island in Downtown.
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State NAACP to push ‘Energy from God’ bill
Schools, churches, mosques and synagogues across Virginia could go solar, if the Virginia State Conference NAACP has its way. Under a legislative proposal the civil rights organization is advancing dubbed the “Energy from God” bill, a $1 billion, three-year pilot program would be created to equip buildings devoted to public education and religion with solar panels, particularly in low-income urban and rural areas.
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Martyrdom and change
George Floyd is now a martyr, his death precipitating marches across the nation and around the globe. His picture is a symbol for people of conscience everywhere.
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Chase Young, Washington’s first NFL draft pick, plans to ‘Terrorize the Moment’
Chase Young is all business on the football field — and thinking about business off the gridiron.
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Several RPS athletic facilities slated for upgrades
Some long overdue improvements to athletic facilities are coming soon to Richmond Public Schools. “We’re making a dent; it’s called progress,” said Dr. Stefanie Ramsey, RPS Instructional Specialist. “Like they say, slow and steady wins the race.”
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Love Stories
We formally met in the spring of 1999, introduced by mutual friends at a poetry and live music event. Our paths had crossed a few times the previous year.
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How Jesus became white – and why it’s time to cancel that
The first time the Rev. Lettie Moses Carr saw Jesus depicted as Black, she was in her 20s. It felt “weird,” Rev. Carr said. Until that moment, she’d always thought Jesus was white.
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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.
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Detroit’s bankruptcy architect says filing 10 years ago was best fix for broken city
Detroit’s newly hired emergency manager, Kevyn Orr, stood before reporters in March 2013 and issued a warning to city creditors, unions, vendors and others: “Don’t make me go to bankruptcy court. You won’t enjoy it.”
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Gov. Northam proposes $25M to transform Monument Avenue and historical sites
The state would provide nearly $11 million to repopulate Monument Avenue with figures of heroes to replace the Confederate statues that once dominated the street under a proposal from Gov. Ralph S. Northam.
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Biden bats away questions about age, polls; launches 2024 campaign ad
President Biden rolled out the first ad of his 2024 reelection campaign on Wednesday, casting himself as a warrior in defense of freedom, but immediately found himself grappling with questions about his advanced age and droopy poll numbers.
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Slot machine-style ‘skill games’ end July 1, taking away some people’s ‘joy’
James E. Henson is not going to wear black. But he will join in mourning the loss of the so- called “gray machines” that are on the way out of convenience stores, truck stops and a host of other retail establishments with Virginia ABC licenses to sell beer, wine and other alcoholic beverages.