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Virginian Kenny Easley inducted into NFL Hall of Fame
Native Virginian Kenny Easley’s NFL career was short but sweet. Limited to just seven seasons (81-87) due to a kidney ailment, Easley was a five-time All-Pro, NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 1984 and selected to the NFL’s 1980s All-Decade team.
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Alton H. Belsches Sr., retired police lieutenant, dies at 87
Alton Henry Belsches Sr. joined the Richmond Police Department in 1960 as sit-ins and demonstrations against racial segregation in Richmond were taking off.
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Support for Virginia Grocery Investment Fund
Re “First Lady kicks off initiative to attract grocers to Va.’s food deserts,” Free Press Aug. 31-Sept. 2 edition: As a lifelong resident of North Side, I was elated to attend the “Closer to My Grocer” roundtable where the Virginia Grocery Investment Fund was presented by First Lady Dorothy McAuliffe, state legislators and other advocates to win support from the General Assembly.
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NSU bows to Colorado in NIT
Norfolk State University’s long basketball season ended a long way from home in thin Rocky Mountain air. The final chapter was a 76-60 loss at the University of Colorado in Boulder on Monday night in the second round of the National Invitation Tournament.
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17th Street Farmers’ Market
Who should Richmond residents see about a partial refund of the $3.6 million in taxpayers’ dollars spent on what was supposed to be a rehab of the 17th Street Farmers’ Market?
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Jackie Robinson fêted for football too
When football fans file into the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif., on New Year’s Day, they’ll be greeted by an exciting addition — a 7-foot-tall bronze statue of Jackie Robinson.
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V.W. Henley, 85, former president of Consolidated Bank
Vernard William Henley presided over the highs and lows of Consolidated Bank & Trust Co. in Richmond, once the oldest independent black-owned bank in America.
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Book has insight, no clear answer on Ralph Northam blackface yearbook photo
A Virginia author’s investigative effort to uncover the origins of a racist photo on Ralph Northam’s medical school yearbook page has ended inconclusively, according to the author, who has written a book that offers new details about the 2019 scandal and the former governor’s remarkable political survival.
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Ukraine invasion, Tulsa Massacre from same playbook, by David W. Marshall
Looking at the events unfolding in Ukraine, it is not hard to compare them to what occurred during Nazi Germany’s invasion of Poland in 1939, especially when you see how two dictators — Adolf Hitler and Vladimir Putin—followed the same playbook.
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Affirmative action in jeopardy after justices raise doubts
The survival of affirmative action in higher education appeared to be in serious trouble Monday at a conservative-dominated Supreme Court after hours of debate over vexing questions of race.
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Top Heisman prospect has Virginia ties
Hendon Hooker was at Virginia Tech before 2021 transfer to Tennessee
It’s becoming routine. Since 2006, Black quarterbacks have won the Heisman Trophy seven times and have been close to winning on many other occasions. The trend is likely to continue this season with one of the top-tier candidates having Virginia connections.
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Democracy matters, even after elections, by Clarence Page
In his highly publicized speech on the perils facing American democracy as midterm Election Day approached, President Biden was largely preaching to the choir. The sermon needs to be preached, but is anybody listening?
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50 homeless people aided under city’s new shelter plan during weekend cold snap
City Hall appears to have succeeded in sheltering the homeless in the first test of its new model to assist people when the temperature plunges.
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Petersburg’s pioneering educator and mayor, Dr. Florence Saunders Farley, dies at 94
Dr. Florence Saunders Farley, a trailblazing psychologist who also served as Petersburg’s first Black female mayor, has died.
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VUU upsets high-ranking Valdosta in 45-40 win
Since starting a football program in 1900, Virginia Union University has won hundreds of games. Perhaps none were ever more impressive than its latest victory, a stunning 45-40 upset at Division II powerhouse Valdosta State on Sept. 10 in Southern Georgia.
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Overcoming NFL’s shameful history, by Marc H. Morial
“More than half the players in the NFL are Black, and most coaches have played the game at some level. That would seem to be the perfect recipe for Black coaches to find success. But most NFL owners have been white men, and they have seldom been willing to let African Americans or Latinos call plays — either on the field or from the sidelines. This is no different from when franchises presumed that Black players weren’t smart enough to play quarterback and lacked leadership skills to command men. The league’s paltry record of hiring minority head coaches comes from the same mindset. And its primary effort to address the problem has been a failure, because a policy can’t compensate for ignorance.”— Jemele Hill
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School Board approves $365.6M budget, after slashing $6M from Kamras plan
After months of quibbling, the Richmond School Board approved a $356.6 million budget Monday night that provides a 5 percent raise for teachers and other schools employees, but eliminates money for new student laptops, instructional contracts and cellphones for employees.
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Virginia NAACP demands to see governor’s criteria for restoring voting rights to felons
The Virginia NAACP on Tuesday called on Gov. Glenn Youngkin to establish clear and publicly available criteria for restoring the voting rights of convicted felons who have served their time, saying the system now is secretive and could discriminate against people of color.
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Expelled Black lawmaker Pearson to return to Tennessee House
The second of two Black Democrats expelled from the Republican-led Tennessee House will return to the legislature after a Memphis, Tenn., commission voted to reinstate him Wednesday, nearly a week after his banishment for supporting gun control protesters propelled him into the national spotlight.
