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VUU celebrates homecoming Oct. 2-9
Professor, author and national commentator Michael Eric Dyson will speak at Virginia Union University’s 2016 Convocation at 11 a.m. Friday, Oct. 7, at the Allix B. James Chapel of Coburn Hall on the campus, 1500 Lombardy St.
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Panthers looking for 3-peat Saturday against St. Augustine’s
William “Will” Stanback suffered a misstep, of sorts, in Orlando, Fla., and lost all football traction. Now he’s back in full stride in Richmond. Call it the “Stanback comeback.”
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HU’s Yahkee Johnson proves big talent comes in small packages
Yahkee Johnson gets low marks for height and weight but straight A’s for speed and elusiveness. Hampton University’s 5-foot-7, 160-pound junior tailback is like The Roadrunner in shoulder pads — beep, beep — and a No. 22 on his blue and white uniform. Tackling him would be easy, assuming you could catch him. So often, frustrated defenders are left clutching nothing but air.
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TJ turns to man of the cloth for coaching
Thomas Jefferson High School is turning to a man of the cloth to lead its girls’ softball program. The Rev. Paul Brown officially will become the team’s coach in October, said TJ Activities Director Bill Holt.
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Personality: Amanda Lewis
Spotlight on Miss Black America Virginia 2016-17
As a child, Amanda Lewis always dreamed of participating in beauty pageants, but never felt that she was “seen as pretty or attractive.”
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Tyler drops out of mayor’s race; new poll shows Morrissey leading
A candidate for Richmond mayor dropped out Tuesday in a bid to help derail the acknowledged frontrunner, former Delegate Joseph D. “Joe” Morrissey.
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End of an era
Harvey’s Progressive Barber Shop to close Downtown
For hundreds of Richmonders, Harvey’s Progressive Barber Shop in Downtown has been their go-to place for a haircut. No more.
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Natural gas price rising for Richmond customers
The cost of natural gas — the fuel most Richmond residents cook and heat with and that many businesses use — is going up for the first time in more than two years.
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Kaine-Pence vice presidential debate Oct.4 at Longwood University
Two developments are focusing fresh attention on battleground Virginia’s role in the presidential race.
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Richmond Ambulance Authority marks 25 years of service
For thousands of Richmond residents, the Richmond Ambulance Authority has been a lifesaver. On Wednesday, the ambulance service marked its 25th year of providing emergency medical services.
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On ‘deplorables,’ Clinton was right
If you accept television pundit opinions, Hillary Clinton did a very bad thing. She called a portion of Donald J. Trump supporters “deplorables.”
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Trump and the birthers
News Flash: Donald Trump now believes that President Obama was born in the country of which he is president.
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Scot free
We are glad the sad, sordid saga of former Gov. Bob McDonnell and his wife, Maureen, is finally over. On Sept. 8, federal prosecutors announced they would not seek a second trial against the pair on corruption charges after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned their convictions in June.
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Executive Mansion dedicates garden to memory of enslaved
Imagine living and working hundreds of miles away from your family for years, with no smartphone, no internet, no means of transportation and no sense of how far you are from home.
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Emmy Awards filled with color, politics
Diversity ruled at Sunday’s Emmy Awards, where a record 21 nominees of color were up for the annual awards for television and cable shows in contrast to this year’s all-white Oscars acting lineup. Several took home Emmys, many for the first time.
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Coach Lancaster returns home for next chapter in legendary career
George Lancaster says there is one aspect of coaching he’s looking forward to even more than the home court advantage.
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Virginia Union University running back William Stanback is tackled during last Saturday’s game against Winston-Salem State University. Stanback had three touchdowns in the Panthers’ 37-14 …
Published on September 24, 2016
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VUU beats CIAA defending champ Winston-Salem State
The clouds have parted, as least for now. After two deflating losses, the Virginia Union University Panthers are heading to Fayetteville State University this Saturday, Sept. 24, with a victory under their belts and a smile on their faces. Coach Mark James’ squad is 1-2 after a rousing 37-14 win last Saturday against its longtime nemesis, Winston-Salem State University.
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VSU wins Kentucky matchup; meets Winston-Salem State on Saturday
Kavon Bellamy is listed as a running back, but battering ram might better describe his role for the Virginia State University Trojans. He pounds and pounds until he gets where he wants to go. The senior from Hampton leads the CIAA in rushing and, not coincidentally, the Trojans are off to a 3-0 start for the first time since 1997.
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Study puts monetary value on good works done by U.S. religious organizations
Religion News Service Religion is worth $1.2 trillion a year to the American economy, according to the first comprehensive study of the question. “In perspective, that would make religion the 15th largest national economy in the world, ahead of 180 other countries in terms of value,” according to the study’s author, Brian J. Grim, president of the Religious Freedom and Business Foundation and an associate scholar at Georgetown University’s Religious Freedom Project. “That would also make American religion larger than the global revenues of the top 10 tech companies, including Apple, Amazon and Google, or the combined annual revenue of the six largest American oil companies,” Dr. Grim said as he released the study Sept. 14 in a speech at the National Press Club in Washington. Dr. Grim understands why the religious and nonreligious alike might look upon the exercise of valuing religion’s contribution to the economy skeptically. To put a value on the work of the nation’s 344,000 religious congregations representing all faiths, Dr. Grim looked at the schools, the soup kitchens, the addiction recovery programs and other activities they run and the programs’ impacts on local economies. He found that congregations and religiously oriented charity groups are responsible for 130,000 alcohol and drug abuse recovery programs; 94,000 programs to support veterans and their families; 26,000 programs to prevent HIV/AIDS and to support people living with the disease; and 121,000 programs to train and support the unemployed. They also operate more than 50,000 schools. He also determined that churches, synagogues, mosques and other houses of worship employ hundreds of thousands of people and buy everything from flowers to computers to snow removal services. He believes the $1.2 trillion figure he came up with is a “conservative” valuation of the annual work of religious organizations in American society. Why crunch the numbers? Dr. Grim believes it is good to know the impact religion has on the nation. Dr. Grim also wants congregations and clergy — and the society that benefits from the charitable work— to appreciate the size of the contribution. In a country where people often hear much more about the evils committed by religious people — from sex abuse scandals to genocide — it’s time for some “balance,” Dr. Grim said. Even clergy often downplay the value of their work, said Ram Cnaan, director of the Program for Religion and Social Policy Research at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Cnaan, who attended the National Press Club presentation to help Dr. Grim unveil his work, said the study would allow the religious to take pride in their contributions. “This is a new day for the people who study congregations,” he said of Dr. Grim’s work, “The Socio-economic Contribution of Religion to American Society: An Empirical Analysis.” “This is the beginning of a national debate — not if religion is important but how much it is important,” Dr. Cnaan said. Dr. Grim said that secular organizations like the Red Cross and the Cancer Society and the host of other nonprofits certainly contribute generously to the social health of the nation. Indeed, he said if the work of the religiously motivated did not exist, “I don’t think we would see all the good of society disappearing. However, I think it would be significantly less.” William A. Galston, a Brookings Institution scholar and a former Clinton administration domestic policy adviser who writes on religion and society, called Dr. Grim’s estimate of $1.2 trillion “a sensible number.” Dr. Grim’s paper, Dr. Galston said, can be used by religious organizations as “a credible calling card to get in the door” of policymakers who have too long undervalued their importance to society.
