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RPS officials fail to explain faulty, fluctuating graduation figures
There has been a sudden surge in the number of students graduating from Richmond Public Schools — and not just from Armstrong High School. RPS officials this week are reporting that 963 seniors received their diplomas during recent graduation ceremonies from the city’s nine high schools.
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Lawmakers hear the case for reparations
The debate over reparations catapulted from the campaign trail to Congress on Wednesday as lawmakers heard impassioned testimony for and against the idea of providing compensation for America’s history of slavery and racial discrimination.
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Personality: David O. Harris Jr.
Spotlight on advocate who spearheaded effort to honor Arthur Ashe Jr.
David O. Harris Jr. is the driving force behind renaming the Boulevard in Richmond for Arthur Ashe Jr., the late Richmond native who made his mark on the tennis court and on the world stage as a civil and human rights advocate and philanthropist.
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Dementia and religion: Inside a church’s Alzheimer’s support group
They sat in a circle in a room usually used by high schoolers and talked about the people they loved who no longer recognized them or who had died forgetting the names of family caregivers in their last days.
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Report urges congregations to support family caregivers
A new report on family caregivers details how congregations can play a role in supporting the increasing number of members caring for elders.
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Hard hats replace bishops’ miters at Notre Dame’s first Mass since fire
Everyone, it seems, has an idea for how to rebuild Notre Dame.
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Armstrong High scholar-athlete taking his talents to U.Va.
Hollywood has produced numerous Superman movies over many decades. Should another sequel come to a theater near you, Corvell Poag could be the star.
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Will Kawhi Leonard stay with new NBA champs?
The NBA playoffs are over, but the excitement continues. Combining the brilliance of Kawhi Leonard and his teammates with good fortune, the Toronto Raptors are NBA champions, having thwarted the Golden State Warriors’ dynasty.
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A moral demand
I had the opportunity recently to participate in the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival. Along with Jerry Paris, general manager of WPFW-FM 89.3, and the Rev. Graylan Hagler, I was invited to co-anchor the program carried by WPFW-FM radio.
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Trump and trade
Columnists
For Donald Trump, America First is increasingly translating into America alone. He apparently believes the United States is so dominant that it needs no friends.
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Former Armstrong High School site
Cityscape: Slices of life and scenes in Richmond
Call it a brand new look for the site of the former Armstrong High School in the 1600 block of North 31st Street in the East End, where these nearly complete apartments now line the street.
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Kumar Rocker is the talk of college baseball as the NCAA World Series is set to begin in Omaha, Neb. The Vanderbilt University freshman threw …
Published on June 14, 2019
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Upset: Challenger ‘Joe’ Morrissey garners Petersburg support to handily beat incumbent Sen. Rosalyn Dance in Tuesday’s primary
Challenger Joseph D. “Joe” Morrissey, proving tougher and more resilient than his critics anticipated, cruised Tuesday to a surprisingly easy victory over incumbent state Sen. Rosalyn R. Dance of Petersburg in a Democratic primary election.
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Top of the class
Richmond Public Schools is turning out scholars. The highest-achieving students in the Class of 2019 at each of the city’s high schools were celebrated at the annual Valedictorian Luncheon held May 30 at the Science Museum of Virginia. Theme for the event: “Dream Big & Dare to Fail.”
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Armstrong graduation figures better than initial report
Armstrong High School is providing best evidence that more seniors are graduating from Richmond Public Schools this year than the public could have expected given the pessimistic projections released three weeks ago by Superintendent Jason Kamras and his staff.
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Agelasto’s council fate may rest with hearing
Parker C. Agelasto’s service on Richmond City Council is now in the hands of a Richmond Circuit Court judge after months of controversy over the 5th District councilman’s move to a home outside the district.
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RPS official says LEED standards haven’t returned big savings
Richmond Public Schools’ chief operating officer confirmed a Free Press finding that building new schools to a national energy standard has failed to pay off in energy savings. Darin Simmons told the Richmond School Board on June 3 that building Huguenot High and three other schools to the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED gold standard has not resulted in “significant” savings.
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Rally calls on Gov. Northam to remove Lee statue from Monument Ave.
More than two dozen people called on Gov. Ralph S. Northam to remove the statue of Confederate Robert E. Lee from Monument Avenue during a recent rally in Richmond. The contingent, which included members of the Virginia Defenders for Freedom, Justice & Equality, held a protest June 1 to counter a band of about 25 neo-Confederates who staged their own rally in support of the Lee statue.
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Boston church stamping Harriet Tubman on its $20 bills
Three years ago, the Treasury Department announced that it would put Harriet Tubman’s face on the front of the $20 bill by 2020. A portrait of the abolitionist, championed by activists, would replace that of President Andrew Jackson, who would be moved to the back of the bill.