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MEAC winners bow out of NCAAs early
MEAC, the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, plays basketball on the NCAA’s highest level, Division I, for at least two reasons:
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VCU falls in first round of NCAA Tournament
What goes up doesn’t necessarily have to come down — or so it seems with Virginia Commonwealth University hoops. The Rams are enjoying the rarified air above the crowd and show no inclination of descending. Despite its early exit from the NCAA Tournament with a 85-77 loss to St. Mary’s College of California on March 16 in Utah, VCU has established itself as a resilient, long-term winner.
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Petersburg police chief ousted
Dironna Moore Belton may carry the title of interim Petersburg city manager, but she’s using her authority to shake up the city government.
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Federal authorities seek death penalty in S.C. church massacre
Federal prosecutors will seek the death penalty for a man accused of killing the pastor and eight parishioners in a racially motivated attack at an African-American church in Charleston, S.C., last June, the U.S. Justice Department said Tuesday. “The nature of the alleged crime and the resulting harm compelled this decision,” Attorney General Loretta Lynch said in a statement.
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Boost the homefront first
America is literally falling apart. In Flint, children were poisoned by the lead contamination of the water. In Washington, the subway system is plagued by fires and delays. Arlington Memorial Bridge, which connects the North to the South, the Capitol to Arlington National Cemetery, may have to be closed soon. President Kennedy’s eternal flame may burn forever, but the bridge is on its last legs.
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Recommit to rid nuclear weapons
On May 27, President Obama became the first sitting president to visit Hiroshima, Japan, where, at the end of World War II, the United States became the first and only country to drop an atomic bomb. The president used the occasion to revive attention on the need to rid the world of nuclear weapons.
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Fill schools, not jails
More than 200 demonstrators call for more school funding
Kevin Lauray resolutely marched across the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Bridge late Monday afternoon with his 4-year-old daughter, Aiyanna Lauray, on his shoulders as she held high a sign, “Support Our Schools.” His girlfriend, Shaira Maravilla, and their four other children walked the distance — from Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School in the East End, across the bridge, to City Hall — with a crowd of about 200 to demand more money for Richmond Public Schools.
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Malia Obama headed to Harvard — in 2017
Malia Obama has chosen Harvard University to be her college home. The long-waited announcement came Sunday. The oldest daughter of President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama has elected to take a year off after high school, however, and will enter the prestigious university in Cambridge, Mass., in the fall of 2017.
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Stop whining, start grinding
It’s interesting how the young folks have started using a term that describes what the older folks should be doing. I hear young people saying, “I’m grinding,” and I hear older folks whining. Young people know they have to “just do it,” as the saying goes, in order to achieve their dreams. In many cases they are willing to take risks and forego the creature comforts that could accrue to them via high level corporate salaries. They are willing to sacrifice in order to pursue their own path in life, unconstrained by the “rules” someone else sets for them.
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City Council to strip Mayor Jones’ detail
Will Richmond Mayor Dwight C. Jones have to handle his own commute to and from City Hall rather than being chauffeured by a police officer when the new budget year begins July 1?
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Judge Jenkins brings message of redemption to Garland Ave. Baptist Men’s Day
Richmond Circuit Court Chief Judge Clarence N. Jenkins Jr. encouraged his fellow congregation members to get “a spiritual tuneup” during a Men’s Day address Sunday at Garland Avenue Baptist Church on North Side. His remarks were delivered on Palm Sunday, which Christians annually celebrate in marking Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem shortly before his crucifixion at Calvary.
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Malia, Sasha turn heads at first state dinner
Sasha and Malia Obama, the teenage daughters of President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama, were nothing less than stunning for their first state dinner, where they were first clad in designer fabrics and later in controversy. During the official White House event last Thursday night welcoming Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, both Sasha and Malia ruled the red carpet, rubbed elbows with dignitaries and enjoyed a rare star-struck moment with “Deadpool” star Ryan Reynolds.
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Standing on sacred ground
Three unarmed black men encountered a group of white men walking down a dirt road in Slocum, Texas, on July 29, 1910. Without warning, and with no reason, the white men opened fire on the black men. And, for two days, white men simply slaughtered black people. Eight deaths have been officially acknowledged, but historians who have studied the Slocum Massacre say that it is likely that dozens more were killed, with some saying as many were killed in Slocum as in Tulsa, Okla, in 1921, and those numbers range into the hundreds.
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Young candidates attract young voters, by Ben Jealous
One of the most exciting parts of this year’s Democratic National Convention was the keynote speech delivered collectively by a group of young progressive elected officials, many of whom are Black. They showed us the potential for a promising future once we have gotten past the presidency of Donald Trump.
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Special prosecutor assigned in Confederate statue removal probe
A special grand jury soon will be convened in Richmond.
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LGBT activists see had work ahead despite U.S. Supreme Court victory
LGBT rights activists are elated by a major U.S. Supreme Court victory on job discrimination, and hope the decision will spur action against other biases faced by their community despite Trump administration efforts to slow or reverse advances.
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Kamaru Usman defends MMA welterweight title on ‘Fight Island’
Fight fans who admired boxer Floyd Mayweather are likely to have an appreciation for Kamaru Usman.
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Slave memorial and museum gets jumpstart under mayor’s plan
A long-stalled effort to develop a museum and memorial park in Shockoe Bottom to tell the story of enslaved people in Richmond seems to have gained fresh momentum, but that could quickly evaporate.
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Ashe sculptor consultant for moves
In his four decades of studying history around the world and interpreting it through professional sculpture work, Richmonder Paul DiPasquale has faced many a challenge. Today, he is in the midst of helping the city turn a major page in its history.
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Rezoning best for schools, by Danielle M. Greene
Headlines have ricocheted across the nation about Richmond City Council’s support for removing the Confederate monuments.