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Suspend use of biased facial recognition technology
Columnists
It’s no secret that Amazon has been promoting DIY (Do It Yourself) surveillance products to consumers, such as its very own smart doorbell, Ring. But what Amazon shoppers and most everyday Americans are just starting to find out is that the real target customers for these surveillance tools are police departments and other law enforcement agencies — something that should have every person of color worried.
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‘He took the bait’
Kamala Harris pushes back over Florida’s new teachings on slavery
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, facing heavy criticism for defending “anti-woke” teaching in Florida, this week teed up an unusual proposal to the nation’s first Black vice president: Come debate the merits of the state’s new curriculum on African-American history.
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Trump’s mob sparks violence
After spurring violence, chaos and an attempted takeover of the U.S. Capitol, President Trump urged his mob of supporters to go home, telling them, ‘We love you. You’re very special.’
Thousands of President Trump’s supporters — with his encouragement — sought to seize the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Wednesday and halt the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives from completing the certification of Democrat Joe Biden’s election as the nation’s next chief executive.
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George Floyd’s family wins $27M settlement in civil suit over his death
The family of George Floyd won a $27 million settlement in a civil lawsuit over his death last year at the hands of a white Minneapolis police officer.
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Dems defeated
In a nail-biting race, Republicans sweep Tuesday’s election for governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general, and flip the Democratic-controlled House of Delegates from blue to red
So much for Virginia turning blue.
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Gov.-elect Glenn Youngkin talks transition with Northam; releases tax info
Republican Gov.-elect Glenn A. Youngkin met with outgoing Democratic Gov. Ralph S. Northam last week for a lunch with their wives at the Executive Mansion in Capitol Square, with both pledging a smooth transition of power.
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It’s complicated
Beleaguered foundation’s last member determined to maintain Black cemeteries, despite ongoing obstacles
The last board member of the collapsed Enrichmond Foundation is working to turn over to City Hall control of two historic Black cemeteries as well as other properties and assets still in the foundation’s name.
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Absence of motion?
Center City and Diamond District development proposals show little movement
Slow going. That appears to be the situation for the two largest development projects that involve City Hall.
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In ‘Equalizer 3,’ Denzel Washington’s assassin goes to Italy
Filmmaker Antoine Fuqua has been dreaming about taking the Equalizer abroad for years. The action franchise (very loosely based on a 1980s television series) starring Denzel Washington as the reluctant assassin Robert McCall had rooted itself in humble domestic beginnings, in Boston. But after two films and $382.7 million in box office receipts in the past decade, the time seemed ripe to travel.
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Two years after historic win, a divided Amazon Labor Union lurches toward a leadership election
Two years after clinching a historic victory at a warehouse in New York City, the first labor union for Amazon workers in the United States is divided, running out of money and fighting over an election that could determine who will lead the group in the near future.
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Ticket in N.C. leads to license suspension in Va.
Horace G. Dodd has a warning for Richmond motorists heading South: Do not get a traffic ticket in North Carolina. The 68-year-old South Side resident found out the hard way that North Carolina has turned traffic tickets into a major source of revenue.
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Host Chris Rock rocks the Oscars
Comedian Chris Rock launched his return stint as Oscar host Sunday by immediately and unabashedly confronting the racially charged elephant in the room — the furor over the all-white field of performers nominated for Hollywood’s highest honor.
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RRHA board takes major step to redevelop Creighton Court
New homes and apartments could begin to rise in Creighton Court within one to two years, if the financing can be arranged, according to the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority.
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Questions swirl around judge
Lawyers representing Mayor Levar M. Stoney and the city have rushed to the Virginia Supreme Court, requesting the state’s highest court overturn a Richmond Circuit Court judge’s 60-day injunction barring the mayor from using emergency authority to take down Confederate statues.
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City, schools officials struggle over how to fund school building improvement plan
Richmond officials continue to struggle over a funding plan for the public school system’s facilities. In a two-hour meeting Monday night of the Education Compact, Mayor Levar M. Stoney, and members of the Richmond School Board and Richmond City Council exchanged ideas and concerns on the best way to move forward to replace or improve the city’s aging and decrepit school buildings.
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Poor People’s Campaign vows to continue push to end poverty, racism, militarism
A multiracial, intergenerational crowd of thousands of social justice activists, union workers and people of faith prayed, cheered and listened intently last Saturday as speakers on the National Mall called for a re-energized approach to fighting poverty and other social ills they say are plaguing the country.
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RRHA begins major move to turn over public housing to private interests
Residents of public housing can expect to see their apartment complexes come under the control and management of private landlords.
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Rev. Janie M. Walker retiring as co-pastoral director of Richmond Hill
After a 15-year relationship with Richmond Hill, the Rev. Janie M. Walker, co-pastoral director of the religious community on Church Hill, is retiring. Rev. Walker, whose last day is May 15, has led the residential ecumenical Christian community since 2014.
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A new lease
T.K. Somanath resigns from the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority amid criticism regarding heating crisis
Battered by criticism over his handling of a heating crisis in the Creighton Court public housing community, T.K. Somanath abruptly resigned Sunday as chief executive officer of the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority.
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From hatred to hope
The 131-year old, 12-ton bronze symbol of white supremacy honoring Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee on Monument Avenue is taken down as scores watch in person and online
An empty pedestal covered with colorful anti-racist slogans. That’s all that remains of the state’s greatest symbol of white supremacy – the statue of the traitorous Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee riding his horse, Traveller.
