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Springers bring home the crown
Instead of Highland Springs High School, perhaps it should be Highlight Springs. Forget the slow but sure approach. Coach Loren Johnson’s Springers were fast and sure in sprinting to the State Division 5 football title last Saturday at the University of Virginia’s Scott Stadium in Charlottesville.
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City readying community for September bike races
Hundreds of bike riders will pedal at break-neck speeds along Richmond area streets past cheering spectators during the upcoming UCI Road World Championships. Elite bicyclists from around the world are scheduled to compete in 12 races over nine days from Saturday, Sept. 19, through Sunday, Sept. 27. Courses will range from 14 miles to 160 miles and will wind through Richmond and Henrico and Hanover counties.
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Blake vows to use police takedown as ‘catalyst for change’
The New York City Police Department on Friday released a security camera video showing former tennis star James Blake being tackled, thrown to the ground and handcuffed by an undercover officer in a case of mistaken identity. The incident occurred as Mr. Blake, formerly the world’s fourth-ranked player, was calmly standing by the entrance of a midtown Manhattan hotel, waiting for a car to take him to the U.S. Open.
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VUU Panthers on the prowl for second victory
Freshmen Hakeem Holland and Lamar Webster are the dual dynamos that fueled Virginia Union University’s maroon and steel football engine last Saturday. Perhaps benefitting from the surprise factor, the fledgling Panthers’ running backs contributed mightily to a 35-21 opening victory over Brevard College of North Carolina before a crowd of 7,245 fans at Hovey Field.
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Mis-education of the South
Regarding recent events in Morehead, Ky., and court clerk Kim Davis who refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, a New York Times article mentions “the old politesse and grace,” which supposedly helped people in that town get along in spite of ideological differences. But in the former slave states, what passes for “grace” is often syrup poured over venom.
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First 100 days
Police chief reflects on good, bad, ugly
Richmond Police Chief Alfred Durham marked his 100th day in office last Sunday. It was not the kind of day he had hoped for or envisioned.
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Federal appeals court orders Va. congressional district lines redrawn
For the second time, a three-judge panel has found the General Assembly illegally packed black voters into a single congressional district — diminishing their influence and ability to elect a candidate of their choice in adjacent districts. And for the second time, that ruling is expected to be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court as the Republican-dominated legislature seeks to maintain GOP control of the state’s congressional delegation.
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Scott co-leader of bipartisan effort to curb federal prison spending
From Virginia to California, states are pushing change to cut their ballooning prison costs that collectively approach $60 billion. Instead of automatically locking up people, 32 states have put in place reforms during the past five years that have reduced the numbers of people imprisoned without increasing crime rates. The efforts have saved at least $4 billion. That includes reserving prison cells for the most serous offenders and doing more to divert lower-level offenders to supervised support programs outside prison.
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Dump Trump
Every four years, the pinnacle of American democracy is reached with the presidential election. That’s when every eligible voter age 18 and older, from every town, city and hamlet across the nation, can listen to the candidates, examine their differing positions, go to the polls and cast his or her ballot for the next U.S. president. It’s a significant time for our nation, and for the world, because of the pivotal role of our country — and our nation’s leader — in all manner of global affairs, from humanitarian assistance and trade deals, to war and peace and the deployment of troops.
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Charleston ‘on eggshells’ with 2 racially charged trials
Trials in two South Carolina shootings that rocked the country last year and raised questions about race in America started last week, putting the city of Charleston on edge as the community awaits the testimony and jury decisions.
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Proposals to build 2 schools, redo George Wythe under review
Richmond Public Schools might provide incoming Mayor Levar Stoney with a potential blueprint for addressing the problem of outdated and increasingly worn-out school buildings.
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Missing house key unlocks tennis career for Franklin Military Academy student
Charlesten Freeman’s tennis success story started with a missing house key. Little could anyone suspect then the potential that awkward situation would unlock.
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$400,000 severance for former city auditor
Former City Auditor Umesh Dalal seems to have been as adept in negotiating his own exit package as he was in examining the practices of city departments.
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Commencement season begins at area colleges, universities
The time of cramming for final exams, pulling all-nighters to finish papers and rushing to complete presentations and projects is over.
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VUU’s ‘Windy City Wonder’ breaks records, dazzles fans at regional finale
Kiana Johnson is so fast, so agile, so dynamic. She navigates a basketball floor like a sleek sports car, reducing foes to clunker status.
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‘American people cannot afford another recession’
We have made tremendous strides over the last eight years to dig ourselves out of one of the deepest recessions the United States has seen in decades. Under President Obama, we have gone from losing more than 800,000 jobs per month to the longest sustained monthly job growth in our nation’s history.
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Pope names panel to consider women as deacons
Following through on a pledge he made to a group of nuns last May, Pope Francis has established a special commission to study whether the Roman Catholic Church should take the historic step of ordaining women as deacons.
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VUU’s Nieves may have a leg up on cross-country competition
When his rival runners sputter, slow and even stall, Luis Nieves keeps going and going. The long-striding junior mass communications major is Virginia Union University’s leader of the pack on the cross-country trails.
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McEachin, Wade on Nov. ballot
Richmond’s next congressman will either be Democrat A. Donald McEachin or Republican Michael L. “Mike” Wade. As expected, both men easily overcame rivals to win their respective party’s primary election Tuesday. They gain the right to carry their party’s banner into the November general election to represent the refashioned 4th Congressional District in Washington.
