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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.
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5 African-American leaders recognized as 'Strong Men & Women in Virginia History'
Five African-American leaders, including a retired judge, NASA scientist and inventor and a former NFL player, were honored during the eighth annual “Strong Men & Women in Virginia History” awards program Feb. 6 at a Downtown hotel.
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Events celebrating Black History continues
The celebration of Black History Month continues through February around the area.
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'Hair Love' gives color to Oscar winners list
A touching story about an African-American father trying to do his daughter’s hair for the first time is an Oscar winner.
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Remembering gun violence survivors by Marc H. Morial
On Jan. 8, 2011, I was performing my favorite duty as a congresswoman — meeting with my constituents — when it happened. In a matter of seconds, a gunman shot and killed six people, injured 12 others and shot me in the head outside a Safeway in Tucson, Ariz. I keep the memories of those we lost that day — 9-year- old Christina- Taylor Green, Dorothy Morris, Phyllis Schneck, Dorwan Stoddard, Gabe Zimmerman and Judge John Roll — close to my heart. And I will be forever bonded to my fellow survivors who will spend the rest of their lives dealing with injuries and trauma. — Former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords
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Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, center, and safety Tyrann Mathieu, right, celebrate the team’s 31-20 victory over the San Francisco 49ers in last Sunday’s …
Published on February 7, 2020
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RPS launches program to help dropouts get diploma or GED
Battling one of the highest dropout rates in Virginia, Richmond Public Schools is launching a Secondary Success Center to help students who have dropped out return to earn their high school diploma or a GED.
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More bad news
As consultant points out flaws, City Council majority gives Mayor Stoney a choice to withdraw the $1.5B Coliseum and Downtown development plan or have it stricken
The bad news just keeps coming for the doomed $1.5 billion proposal to replace the Richmond Coliseum and develop an area of Downtown around it.
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Senate fails to remove Trump from office
President Trump won acquittal Wednesday in the U.S. Senate, bringing to a close only the third presidential impeachment trial in American history. The votes split the country, tested civic norms and fed the tumultuous 2020 race for the White House.
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N.C. woman files $15M lawsuit against the national NAACP
A woman who said she repeatedly told the national NAACP that her supervisor in the North Carolina conference had sexually harassed her is suing the national group and her former boss.
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Richmond's housing issues have long history
Richmond must do a lot of work to solve its eviction problem that gives it the second highest eviction rate per capita in the nation.
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School Board starts process for VCU to take over historic Moore Street School
Virginia Commonwealth University has gained a boost for its plan to take over the historic and vacant Moore Street School to expand the day care operation that its School of Education operates on the Monroe Park Campus. The Richmond School Board voted 8-1 Monday night to start the process of enabling VCU to obtain the building.
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After-school programs now in all RPS middle and elementary schools
Students at Richmond’s Albert H. Hill Middle School now can sign up for free after-school programs, thanks to a partnership with Richmond Public Schools and the nonprofit NextUp RVA.
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Justice Clarence Thomas talks about his faith in new documentary
U.S. Supreme Court Jus- tice Clarence Thomas, who is known for his reticence, speaks for much of a new two-hour documentary about his life.