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City to step up efforts against blighted housing
More than 1,000 abandoned, decaying houses blight Richmond neighborhoods. And with the owners no longer paying property taxes, such properties add nothing to city revenue. Instead, such properties pile up delinquent taxes on the city’s books.
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Emancipation Day service Jan. 1 at Fifth Baptist Church
The Rev. Elmore E. Warren Jr., a Richmond native and pastor of Whitestone Baptist Church in Baltimore, is scheduled to preach at the annual community service in Richmond to mark the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. The commemoration that also features spirited singing and dramatic presentations will be held 11:30 a.m. Friday, Jan. 1, 2016, at Fifth Baptist Church, 1415 W. Cary St., in the West End.
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School Board election recount set for Dec. 10
The Rev. Roscoe D. Cooper III is expected to learn this week whether his 43-vote victory will stand for the Fairfield District seat on the Henrico County School Board. The Henrico Circuit Court has ordered a recount Thursday, Dec. 10, to formally settle the race, according to county election officials.
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Mistrial in Freddie Gray’s death
A mistrial was declared Wednesday in the case of a Baltimore police officer charged in the death of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old whose death while in police custody sparked riots last April.
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VUU men win cross-country meet
Virginia Union University’s Franck Charles remains undefeated this season after winning the Panther Classic cross-country meet last weekend at Richmond’s Bryan Park.
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Dogwood Dell blossoms with Festival of the Arts
Richmond’s free summer Festival of the Arts at Dogwood Dell will launch its new season Sunday, June 7, with a Renaissance-style fair and a production of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet.”
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VUU to use $1.2M grant to aid city students
Virginia Union University is the winner of a $1.2 million federal grant to assist Richmond high school students to gain admission to college, it was announced Wednesday.
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Dave Roberts NL Manager of the Year
Dave Roberts found a cure for a record-setting plague of injuries this season as the Los Angeles Dodgers’ first-year manager.
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School choice to be expanded by feds
The Trump administration is proposing “the most ambitious expansion” of school choice in American history, U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos announced Monday while giving few details on how the program would work.
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Adediran lands provisional post in Petersburg
Dismissed from is job at Richmond’s City Hall, Emmanuel O. Adediran is headed to a job with the Petersburg city government, the Free Press learned Wednesday.
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Postal service to issue stamp marking Hindu holiday
Never before has a U.S. postage stamp celebrated anything Hindu. But coming soon to a post office near you: A stamp marking the Hindu holiday of Diwali. The new Forever stamp is scheduled to be featured at a first-day-of-issue dedication ceremony on Oct. 5 at the Consulate General of India in New York City.
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Retrial for former governor?
The U.S. Supreme Court overturned federal corruption convictions against former Gov. Bob McDonnell in June.
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City seeking developers for Boulevard project
It took an extra three weeks, but City Hall is now seeking developers for the projected $350 million transformation of its Boulevard property into apartments, offices and retail space.
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Local players help MJBL teams to victory
Richmond coaches and players took on big roles in helping the Metropolitan Junior Baseball League mark its 50th anniversary providing youth baseball during the nonprofit organization’s recent East-West All-Star games in Daytona Beach, Fla., and Savannah, Ga.
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Will statue removal be remedy for gender myopia?
I recently completed a book about high school hockey. Because of budget cuts, there were several departments that were defunded, one being the female hockey league.
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Make people the priority with city investment
Re “Slave memorial and museum gets jumpstart under mayor’s plan,” Free Press July 30-Aug. 1 edition:
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Monument Avenue Commission Sept. 13 meeting postponed
The Monument Avenue Commission’s much-anticipated Sept. 13 public hearing on the Confederate statues in Richmond has been postponed until sometime in October.
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Shootings and homicides up in city, but major crime down 3% from 2018
Sixty people as of noon Dec. 31, were fatally shot, bludgeoned or knifed to death in Richmond in 2019, according to city Police Department statistics.
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Ben Stanley steps up for Hampton Pirates
When Jermaine Marrow went down, Hampton University needed a volunteer to step up. Ben Stanley was the first to raise his hand.
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Dixon to become Crusade for Voters new president
John I. Dixon III, former Petersburg police chief and a retired Richmond Police Department major, will become president of the Richmond Crusade for Voters on Jan. 1.