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Monument Avenue for real heroes
The Monument Avenue Commission has only just begun its work, but the fix is in. Apparently, the commission has been hamstrung by its charge from Mayor Levar M. Stoney to put the monuments “in context.”
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Band camp
The VSU Trojan Explosion works for its showmanship and sound
It is 5:45 a.m. and the early August sun is beginning to rise over the Appomattox River. Just north upon a hill, 115 students scurry out of dormitories that are largely empty until fall classes begin. The students’ destination is Davis Hall, where they’ll spend the next 12 hours practicing formations, maneuvers, sheet music, dance routines and more.
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Crusade for Voters history detailed in new book
Kimberly A. Matthews was surprised that no one had ever written a history of the Richmond Crusade for Voters, the oldest African-American political organization in continuous operation in the state.
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Bolt loses world race; still fan favorite
For the first time in nearly a decade, the world’s fastest man isn’t named Usain Bolt. Justin Gatlin has regained that title again after holding off the iconic Jamaican in the 100-meter final of the World Championships of Athletics last Saturday in London.
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A successful new experiment on human embryo raises religious questions
News that scientists for the first time successfully edited genes in human embryos has created a stir.
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Public to Monument Avenue Commission:
Is statue removal off the table?
Can the Monument Avenue Commission recommend that the statues of Confederates be removed? That was the pressing question at the first full meeting Monday of the commission assembled by Richmond Mayor Levar M. Stoney to deal with the statues to vanquished traitors along the tree-lined thoroughfare.
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George Mason Elementary to stay open with repairs
George Mason Elementary School’s students, teachers and staff are staying put for the 2017-18 school year. The Richmond School Board voted Monday night to back Interim Superintendent Thomas Kranz’s recommendation to make repairs at the Church Hill building that is more than 100 years old.
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Tensions high over North Korea
Are we facing a nuclear war with North Korea? Amid all the issues people are facing in Richmond and elsewhere, President Trump pushed that question front and center this week.
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Charlottesville braces for alt-right rally over Confederate statues
As the City of Charlottesville braces for a potentially volatile confrontation between supporters at a “Unite the Right” rally organized by white supremacist Jason Kessler and counterprotesters, city officials and faith leaders are taking precautions. The rally is scheduled for noon to 5p.m. Saturday, Aug. 12, at Emancipation Park in Charlottesville’s downtown to protest the Charlottesville City Council’s decision in April to have the statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee removed from the park.
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New VUU president
Dr. Hakim J. Lucas of Bethune-Cookman tapped as school’s 13th president
They’ve been rivals forever, but Virginia Union and Virginia State universities soon will have one thing in common — a first-time president with executive credentials honed at Bethune-Cookman University in Florida. Twenty months after VSU hired Bethune-Cookman Provost Makola M. Abdullah as its 14th president, VUU announced that the Florida university’s chief fundraiser, Dr. Hakim J. Lucas, would become its 13th president, effective Sept. 1. Dr. Lucas’ appointment was announced Tuesday by Dr. W. Franklyn Richardson, VUU’s board chairman, following a 14-month search to replace former President Claude G. Perkins, who stepped down in June 2016, first taking a sabbatical and then retiring.
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Access to voter information to boost schools petition drive
Paul Goldman has gained access to Richmond voter information for his Put Schools First petition drive under a settlement reached with the office of Attorney General Mark R. Herring. Already close to securing the nearly 10,400 signatures needed to get on the ballot, Mr. Goldman said the settlement allows him to access the names and addresses of registered voters on a block-by-block basis from the state Department of Elections’ database.
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1 vendor? ‘This is ridiculous!’
Re “Only 1 black-owned food vendor at NFL training camp,” Free Press July 27-29 edition: Only one black food vendor at the NFL training camp in Richmond? This is ridiculous!
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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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End the paralysis
Once again, we have turned our Richmond public schoolchildren and their parents into beggars.
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The latest stunt
We are living in dangerous times. The bigots in the White House have launched a federal Justice Department study of anti-white bias in college admissions. The New York Times reported Tuesday that the Trump administration plans to redirect the civil rights division’s efforts toward investigating and suing universities over admission policies believed to discriminate against white people. What????
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McEachin task force to host forum on special needs students
A task force created by Congressman A. Donald McEachin of Henrico will host an education forum on Saturday, Aug. 12, to help parents understand their rights and the resources available for special needs students. “I’m bringing this task force together out of frustration,” Rep. McEachin said in an interview with the Free Press. “But we’re doing this with the hope that we’ll be able to pull together a solution to help the students who are affected.”
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Pulitzer winner Tracy K. Smith named U.S. poet laureate
Tracy K. Smith, who won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 2012, has been named the nation’s 22nd poet laureate, and her recognition is being trumpeted in more than the usual places.
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Robert ‘Fat Rob’ Kelley is growing his skills
NFL history is flavored with running backs with colorful nicknames suggesting stardom. Examples include “Rocket” (Raghib Ismail), “Beast Mode” (Marshawn Lynch), “Kansas Comet” (Gale Sayers), “Diesel” (John Riggins),” “Mercury” (Eugene Morris), “The A Train” (Mike Alstott) and “The Jet” (Joe Perry).
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MEAC outlook not too promising for NSU and Hampton
Hampton University and Norfolk State University must hope their conference’s crystal ball is broken. The MEAC preseason football predictions are in, and they aren’t too promising for Virginia’s entries in the historically black athletic league.
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Richmond Christian Center again facing sale
The Richmond Christian Center, still struggling to emerge from bankruptcy after nearly four years, once again is facing the loss of its property in South Side.
