Story
BET Awards honors Prince, Muhammad Ali
The BET Awards delivered an exciting night of tributes for Prince and Muhammad Ali between calls for action over gun violence, civil rights and presidential politics. These are the top moments from Sunday’s awards show held at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.
Story
Stanback, Dowdy winning combo for Panthers
They may form the best lifeline combination since hydrogen and oxygen. The combination of William Stanback plus Shawheem Dowdy is the tip-top reason why Virginia Union University is still very much alive for the CIAA football championship.
Story
BeBe Winans’ life story on stage
BeBe Winans, the seventh son of the famous gospel singing Winans family, owes much of his fame to 1980s televangelists Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker.
Story
Aunt Jemima being retired by Quaker Oats
America’s painful struggles over racism have finally caught up with Aunt Jemima, that ubiquitous fixture served up at breakfast tables for 131 years.
Story
City Council expands VCU Police jurisdiction
A packed Richmond City Council meeting turned unruly Monday night as residents and council members clashed over an ordinance to expand the jurisdiction of Virginia Commonwealth University Police.
Story
ELECTION 2020: School Board candidates outline plans
I decided to become a candidate for the Richmond School Board because:
Story
Personality: Doris Walker Woodson
Spotlight on Maymont House Benevolent Society Award winner
Doris Walker Woodson was reluctant when asked to be the community outreach coordinator for Maymont’s project to tell the story of the people who worked as domestic servants for the Dooley family that built and owned the 100-acre Richmond estate from 1893 to 1925.
Story
Remembering VUU’s glory days as NCAA champions
There will be no national college basketball championships to celebrate this season. As unfortunate as that is, the pause in sports because of the coronavirus pandemic offers an opportunity to reflect on past glory.
Story
ELECTION 2020: Voting is power
The future leadership of our nation and our city will be decided in the Tuesday, Nov. 3, general election.
Story
Movement for justice must not be silent, by Jesse L. Jackson Sr.
On Monday, we celebrated Dr. Martin Luther King’s 91st birthday. On Wednesday, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were inaugurated as president and vice president, promising change after a dark period of division.
Story
State NAACP weighing appeal of new redistricting maps to U.S. Supreme Court
Will there be an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court?
Story
City School Board reverses vaccine mandate for teachers, staff
In a stunning 180-degree turn, the Richmond School Board reversed its mandate that teachers and staff be vaccinated against COVID-19 or forfeit their pay and possibly ultimately be fired.
Story
City council members Jones, Lambert eye House seats
Two members of City Council will be seeking Richmond seats in the House of Delegates in the upcoming 2023 election cycle in which the 100 seats in the lower chamber as well as the 40 seats in the state Senate will be in play.
Story
The breakthrough
A long-awaited treatment for sickle cell anemia is highlighted in this week’s Free Press.
Story
Voter registrar explains plan to stop poll problems
Mistakes happen. That, Richmond Voter Registrar Kirk Showalter told the state Board of Elections, is the reason why some voters were given the wrong ballots and had trouble being checked in to vote during the Nov. 3 election. However, she said changes are being put in place to ensure that the problems that led to numerous complaints do not recur in upcoming elections.
Story
Jim Webb’s ‘culture’ war
Former Virginia Sen. Jim Webb, feeling disrespected at CNN’s Democratic presidential debate in Las Vegas, says he’s dropping out to consider running as an independent. That’s his right, but I wonder whether anyone will notice. It is well known that Mr. Webb, a decorated Vietnam combat veteran, former secretary of the Navy under President Ronald Reagan and author of numerous books, has two flaws for an aspiring politician: He doesn’t care much for campaigning and he really hates asking people for money.
Story
Hilda Y. Warden, 97, one of first black graduate students at RPI School of Social Work
Hilda Yates Warden had an unquenchable passion for helping the less fortunate. “Her greatest achievement was guiding people in the right direction,” said her son, George Warden Jr.
Story
City schools start with teacher vacancies, new salad bars
Timothy Billups and his staff in the Richmond Public Schools Department of Human Resources began the summer with the daunting task of filling nearly 400 teacher vacancies. With school bells set to ring for the new RPS school year Tuesday, Sept. 8, they’ve whittled that number to well under 100. The latest tally submitted by Mr. Billups on Aug. 25 to the Free Press shows 76 vacant teacher positions — five in elementary schools, 41 in secondary schools and 30 in special education.
Story
Problems of the 1960s still plague black community
The problems driving dissatisfaction among African-Americans in the 1960s — discriminatory police practices, unemployment, unequal pay, poverty and more — continue to plague many people in the African-American community today.
Story
Armstrong team strong on top scorers
Last season, Armstrong High School basketball took one step back. This year’s Wildcats hope to take a few steps forward, probably with Brian Harris leading the charge.
