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America’s new day
President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Vice President Kamala Harris are sworn into office in an uplifting ceremony
President Joseph R. Biden Jr. issued a ringing call to the nation and began throwing out the damaging, corrosive policies of his predecessor after being sworn into office Wednesday along with his history-making vice president, former U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris of California.
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A new day
We revel in the glow surrounding the Jan. 20 inauguration of President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Vice President Kamala Harris, and the historic “firsts” it represents for our nation: Vice President Harris, the highest-ranking woman ever elected in U.S. government; the first woman vice president in the nation’s history; the first African-American and first South Asian ever to become vice president.
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Community rallies to preserve historic Black hospital
Richmonders will rally for an important symbol of the city’s Black history Sunday afternoon at the former Richmond Community Hospital on Overbrook Road. Virginia Union University, a historically Black university which owns the former hospital, plans to demolish the historic building and replace it with housing.
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Joe locks up win, gets cold shoulder
Delegate Morrissey back in General Assembly
Joseph D. “Fighting Joe” Morrissey is back in the General Assembly.
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Another black justice?
Political power play may lead to third African-American on Va. Supreme Court
Virginia is on its way to having a record three African-American judges on the state’s highest court — courtesy of the frayed relationship between Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe and Republican leaders who control the General Assembly. In a slap at Gov. McAuliffe for apparently ignoring them, top GOP legislators announced this week that House and Senate Republicans would take the virtually unprecedented step of rejecting the person the governor had appointed to the Virginia Supreme Court, in this case an experienced white female judge.
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School Board weighs options to close schools
Richmond Public Schools is considering a seismic shift in how it attempts to solve overcrowding issues and meet other pressing demands related to its burgeoning student population. For the first time, Superintendent Dana T. Bedden and his leadership team are publicly admitting they could close up to six school buildings and move those students into existing schools even if no new buildings are constructed. Those findings are part of the thick new Richmond Public Schools Facilities Needs Report, which focuses on current and future building needs.
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A new top cop in town
The Richmond Police Department has stayed free of public accusations of police brutality as “Black Lives Matter” demonstrations grow locally and across the nation to protest atrocities by white police officers in the black community. The nearly 740-officer force has garnered mostly praise for its community policing efforts to gain closer ties with neighborhoods in the city it serves.
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Morrissey busted on new charges
The situation has gone from bad to worse for scandal-tarred Delegate Joseph D. “Joe” Morrissey.
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First Lady connects
First Lady Michelle Obama delivered an authentic, unfeigned and inspiring message to graduates at Tuskegee University’s commencement on May 9. Here are excerpts:
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A plan for urban recovery
As the general election season begins in earnest, the National Urban League has a message for the next president: Invest in America. When Europe found itself in physical and economic ruin after World War II, the United States invested $13 billion — $130 billion in today’s dollars — through the European Recovery Program, more commonly known as the Marshall Plan, after Secretary of State George Marshall.
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Happy birthday to Medicaid
For more than a half century, Medicaid has been a shining example of the good and essential support government can provide those most in need across all ages. Through the years, we have been striving to live up to the promise of ensuring all children and young people a chance to reach healthy adulthood — laboriously and successfully expanding coverage to more children thousands by thousands, millions by millions, state by state.
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Our place in history
On Friday, Jan. 20, a new president will be inaugurated. Donald J. Trump, the billionaire businessman who has never held elective office and is so guided by impulse that he rarely holds his tongue, will become the 45th president. As President Obama, an intelligent, grounded and measured man, turns over the reins of power and leadership during official ceremonies outside the U.S. Capitol, we will watch as the nation’s first African-American president heads off into history.
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Calls mount for independent investigation of Russia’s ties to Trump administration
President Trump is finding its easy to play golf, but harder to get his way as the nation’s chief executive.
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Paydazed in RVA
High-fee payday loan traps Henrico man
Running short of money to pay bills, Donald Garrett did what many people do — he turned to a payday lender. He borrowed $100 from a small loan company called Advance ‘Til Payday on Nine Mile Road near his Henrico County apartment in order to catch up. Four months later, he had wracked up $320 in fees and still was unable to pay off the original $100. Until a friend stepped in and paid off his debt, he faced paying $80 each month. To pay the loan off, $100 had to be added to the $80 payment.
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Grammys not just about the music
The Grammy Awards wasn’t just about the music Sunday night. The show opened with a dedication to basketball icon Kobe Bryant, who died in a helicopter accident earlier in the day and whose Los Angeles Lakers team has its home at the city’s Staples Center and Grammy venue.
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Dr. Earl McClenney Jr., legendary VSU educator and longtime public administrator, dies at 79
Dr. Earl Hampton McClenney Jr. left his mark on public administration in Virginia as an educator and as a Richmond and state official where he fought entrenched racism and sought to aid the underdog.
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FBI finds no hate crime in old noose in Bubba Wallace’s NASCAR garage
NASCAR went to Talladega Superspeedway last weekend on heightened alert after Bubba Wallace, its only Black driver, took on an active role in a push for racial equality.
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Gone!
After more than 100 years, the statue of Confederate ‘Stonewall’ Jackson on Monument Avenue comes down
Goodbye, “Stonewall” Jackson.
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Gov. Northam releases progressive 2020-22 budget plan
Smokers might have to shell out an extra 30 cents in tax for a pack of cigarettes to help offset the cost of tobacco-related illnesses that the state must pick up through Medicaid and other health care programs.
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Funeral service Friday for Rep. Elijah E. Cummings of Maryland
Tributes continue to pour in for Congressman Elijah E. Cummings of Maryland, a moral voice of conscience who fought for civil rights and took on the White House as a prominent figure in the impeachment inquiry of President Trump as chairman of the powerful House Oversight and Reform Committee.
