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Flying Squirrels pitcher hopes 100 mph throws get him to big leagues
Walking to the batter’s box to face Melvin Adon must feel like walking the plank. Few pitchers unleash a fastball with more fury and frightening velocity than the Richmond Flying Squirrels’ bullpen ace.
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God’s gouda: Nuns in Albemarle County make cheese
Tucked in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, down a lengthy stretch off U.S. 250, over a bridge, through the woods and at the end of a gravel road sits Our Lady of the Angels Monastery perched on a hillside. The 13 nuns who live there believe God has a plan for everyone.
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Widow of Mother Emanuel pastor: ‘Much prayer is needed’ four years after attack
Jennifer Pinckney had hoped to be in Bible study on the evening of June 17, 2015. But her 6-year-old daughter had other plans.
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In what unique way did your mother show you she loved you?
Mother’s Day is Sunday, May 12. It’s a day for pampering mom with flowers and gifts and taking her to dinner to show her how much we love and appreciate her for all she has done for us.
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City Council to seek election to replace Agelasto
Richmond City Council set the stage this week for a special election on Nov. 5 to replace Councilman Parker C. Agelasto as the 5th District representative. The council voted Monday to petition Richmond Circuit Court to set the election to coincide with the November general election in which voters will select representatives to the General Assembly.
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Council members concerned about latest utility rate hikes
Like a steady drip, drip, drip, the cost of utility services is continuing to rise in Richmond at a double-digit pace, outpacing inflation and raising concerns among some about affordability.
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Maternal mortality: Black women far more likely to die giving birth than Caucasians
Last fall, Tanca McCargo, a Chesterfield native, found out she was expecting her second child. Ms. McCargo, who already had a 3-year-old son, discovered early on that her second pregnancy would be different. Her complications began when she experienced light bleeding. “The morning after scheduling an appointment with my OB-GYN, I passed an actual blood clot,” Ms. McCargo said.
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Richmond emergency communications earns accreditation
Richmond’s 911 emergency call center has secured national accreditation for the first time. The Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies awarded the Richmond Department of Emergency Communications the accreditation on May 4 in Huntsville, Ala.
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Local players have helped NBA teams make it to the finals
If someone dusted the NBA playoff archives for fingerprints, they would discover ample evidence of Richmond area talent. Local players have played — and even been leading attractions — on NBA championship teams at least seven times. Make that nine times if you fudge the boundaries a tad. Here are a few highlights:
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National Urban League and ‘State of Black America’
Columnists
The U.S. intelligence community announced it was “confident” that it happened. A Senate Intelligence Committee report confirmed it. And now the Mueller Report has documented its scope in breathtaking detail.
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Nation’s wealth gap worsens
If you’re like me, every time you hear a news reporter or anchor talk about how great the nation’s economy is, you wonder what world they are living in. Certainly these journalists are not referring to the ongoing struggle to make ends meet that so much of Black America faces. For every daily report of Wall Street trading or rising corporate profits, you’re reminded that somebody else is doing just fine financially.
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Charles W. Howell Jr., longtime community advocate and health administrator, dies at 91
Since 1975, the federal government has been issuing income tax refunds to low-income working individuals and families through an anti-poverty initiative called the Earned Income Tax Credit, or EITC.
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Judge Damon J. Keith, civil rights and judicial icon, dies at 96
U.S. Appeals Court Judge Damon J. Keith, who decided many of the nation’s most important school desegregation, employment discrimination and government surveillance cases during his more than 50 years on the federal bench, died Sunday, April 28, 2019, at his home in Detroit surrounded by family.
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Balancing act
Richmond City Council designs a new budget that places a 50 cent-per-pack tax on cigarettes, increases funding for schools and expands bus service while giving city employees a 3 percent raise
An exhausted City Council completed work Monday on a new 2019-20 spending plan for Richmond that calls for a 3.6 percent, or $26 million, increase in city spending and is balanced with the imposition of the city’s first tax on cigarettes — a 50 cent levy on each pack effective July 1— and a hike in utility rates.
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Hemp: Virginia’s new big cash crop?
At first glance, it looks like a stoner’s paradise: Acres of plants that resemble marijuana. But this crop is hemp, a relative of cannabis that has commercial uses ranging from textiles and animal feed to health products.
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Salvation Army looks to relocate from Downtown to North Side
People needing temporary housing and a helping hand might soon have to walk a bit farther to reach the Salvation Army’s combination headquarters and emergency shelter.
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Former VCU dean drops defamation suit against Wilder
Former Gov. L. Douglas Wilder is no longer facing a defamation lawsuit that was scheduled for trial in mid-July in Richmond Circuit Court.
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City starts down road to regulate short-term rentals
Want to use Airbnb, FlipKey, VRBO or other online websites to rent your Richmond home or apartment to travelers?
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Personality: Dr. Cynthia O. Richardson
Spotlight on president of the Petersburg Area Art League
Cynthia Owens Richardson, president of the Petersburg Area Art League, wants the nonprofit to be a mecca for people to explore, experience and be inspired by art.
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Critically acclaimed filmmaker John Singleton dies at 51
Director John Singleton, who made one of Hollywood’s most memorable debuts with the Oscar-nominated “Boyz N the Hood” and continued over the following decades to probe the lives of African-American communities in his native Los Angeles and beyond, died Monday, April 29, 2019, after suffering several strokes during the last two weeks. He was 51.