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Serena Williams: ‘I won’t be silent’
Star tennis player Serena Williams says she “won’t be silent” about the killing of African-American men by police officers.
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50 Cent out of dollars?
Rapper and actor 50 Cent filed for federal bankruptcy protection Monday, days after a jury ordered him to pay $5 million in an invasion-of-privacy lawsuit.
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Funeral Dec. 7 for Richmond Fire Lt. Ashley N. Berry, 33
Final tributes will be paid to Richmond Fire Department Lt. Nicole Ashley Berry at noon Saturday, Dec. 7, at Second Baptist Church of South Richmond, 3300 Broad Rock Blvd.
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Veterans group wheels out new gift for single mother
While living in Richmond’s Fairfield Court public housing community for nine years, Kiocia Wilkerson spent much of the time riding buses back and forth to work each day. She also relied on bus transportation to take her two children, one of whom is autistic, to and from school and to doctors’ appointments.
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Personality: Shirley H. Scarborough
Spotlight on Cry Loud, Spare Not, Speak Up founder
For the past two years Shirley H. Scarborough has worked, in her own words, to create “Beauty for Ashe,” through her organization Cry Loud, Spare Not, Speak Up.
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“Wanton murder”
Breonna Taylor’s family attorney decries the decision of a Kentucky grand jury to absolve 2 white police offers in her shooting death, while charging a third with endangering Ms. Taylor’s neighbors
Two white policemen who fired shots inside the apartment of Breonna Taylor, a Black emergency medical technician, will not be prosecuted for her death because their use of force was justified, while a third police officer was charged with endangering her neighbors, Kentucky’s attorney general announced on Wednesday.
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‘Kemba’, a film based on Richmonder’s life of love, prison and redemption, makes screen debut
“Kemba,” a movie based on the true story of Richmond native Kemba Smith, made its world premiere this week at the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival.
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A small step toward justice
On Tuesday, President Obama did something I thought he should have started in 2010 when he signed the Fair Sentencing Act — he commuted the sentences of 46 people in federal prison on drug offenses.
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Morrissey banned from Henrico jail
Henrico County Sheriff Alisa A. Gregory released a statement Tuesday confirming a Jan. 28 incident that led to the revocation of Sen. Joseph D. “Joe” Morrissey’s, D-Richmond, visiting privileges to Henrico’s Jail West and Jail East for 90 days.
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Breonna Taylor supporters relieved by charges against police
Ahmaud Arbery’s assailants receive second life prison sentence while a street is named in his honor
Louisville activists put in long hours on phones and in the streets, working tirelessly to call for arrests in the fatal police shooting of Breonna Taylor — but it was mostly two years filled with frustration. They saw their fortunes suddenly change when the federal government filed civil rights charges on Aug. 4 against four Louisville police officers over the “drug raid” that led to the death of Ms. Taylor.
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Palin family hypocrisy
Since former half-term Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin erupted on the national scene by telling everyone she could see Russia from her porch in Alaska, she has been lecturing everyone about accepting responsibility. For example, speaking to Tea Party supporters in Nashville in 2010, Ms. Palin said, “My plan is quite simple. To support those who support the foundation of our country when it comes to the economy. It is free-market principles that reward hard work and personal responsibility.”
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Cherished Holiday Memories
Christmas. It’s a time for family, sharing good food, holiday fun and heartfelt blessings. From the smell of dinner cooking for a family feast, to the glow of lights on a decorated Christmas tree, the season is rich with ingredients for wonderful memories that linger long after the holiday is gone. Six area residents shared with the Free Press their cherished memories of Christmases past. We hope their reflections will bring special joy and happy recollections of your own during this season.
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Tenn. inmate granted clemency credits church-affiliated program with changing her life
Each semester, the LIFE program at Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tenn., which is associated with Churches of Christ, pairs traditional students with inmates serving time in the Tennessee Prison for Women.
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‘This is more than a gut check; it’s a soul check’
We look upon the tragic deaths in Minnesota, in Louisiana and in Dallas in recent days with sadness, anger, grief, confusion and certainly compassion, but it’s not nearly enough. This is more than a gut check; it’s a soul check. Our souls are being tested by the sobbing young man whose dad was shot and killed at point-blank range by one of two police officers who had him pinned to the ground.
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VUU’s Kiana Johnson leads CIAA all around the ball
Fueled by transfer Kiana Johnson, the Virginia Union University women’s basketball team has taken off like a rocket. The 5-foot-7 dynamo leads the CIAA in scoring (24.8 points per game), assists (8.2 per game) and steals (4.2 per game) while steering the Lady Panthers to an 8-1 takeoff under first-year Coach AnnMarie Gilbert. Inheriting a squad coming off a 9-18 season, Coach Gilbert felt she needed a quality point guard to jump start her inaugural season on Lombardy Street.
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Stellar cast leads Sunday production at Altria Theater
Make no mistake about it — Je’Caryous Johnson is trying to reach you. The award-winning writer, director and producer’s latest play, “Things Your Man Won’t Do,” features a potent cast of familiar faces whose characters delicately weave drama, humor and the salaciousness of a love triangle against a backstory with a much stronger social message.
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Bobbi Kristina’s autopsy shows mixture of drugs, alcohol
Bobbi Kristina Brown’s autopsy report contained evidence of recent cocaine use by the daughter of Bobby Brown and the late Whitney Houston before she was found unresponsive in a bathtub in her home last year. But a medical examiner’s office said last Friday it could not establish whether her death after months in a coma was accidental or intentional. Ms. Brown suffered brain damage and died of pneumonia resulting from drug intoxication and her face being immersed in water, the Fulton County Medical Examiner said.
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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.
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Senseless
United Communities Against Crime, a local nonprofit organization run by Charles Willis, held a prayer vigil Thursday, March 16, 2023, for Tyrek Brandon, 21, who was murdered at the corner of Hull and 16th streets on Richmond’s South Side on March 6, 2023.
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Family discord mars memorial service for Bobbi Kristina
Bobbi Kristina Brown was buried early Monday afternoon next to her iconic mother, Whitney Houston, at a cemetery in New Jersey.
