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Preston to challenge Dance for Senate seat
In a surprise move, Joseph E. Preston announced this week he would give up the seat he recently won in the House of Delegates and challenge freshman Sen. Rosalyn R. Dance in the16th Senate District that stretches from Richmond’s East End to the Petersburg area. Delegate Preston’s decision comes barely two months after he replaced Sen. Dance as the representative for the 63rd House District. It also appears fueled, in part, by a dispute he and Sen. Dance have over the choice of the first African-American judge for the Petersburg Circuit Court.
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‘Why is this happening?’
Newborn baby taken from mother in hospital
Newborn baby taken from mother in hospital
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TJ basketball makes case for new gym
Just about everything regarding Thomas Jefferson High School basketball seems beyond the ordinary. The Vikings have the city’s tallest coach, shortest team, oldest gym, arguably the richest history … and a discount replacement scoreboard that will have to do for the time being.
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Delta Air Lines snubs black women physicians
When Tamika Cross tried to help another passenger in distress on a recent Delta Air Lines flight, she said she was dismissed by a flight attendant who doubted that the black woman was actually a physician. Dr. Cross, an OB-GYN based in Houston, chronicled the incident on Facebook on Oct. 9. The post has since gone viral, with more than 15,000 comments, and sparked the Twitter hashtag #whatadoctorlookslike.
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Foremost wishes for 2017
Kaine, Stoney, Locke, Bourne and Nelson tell them They respond to a special Free Press invitation
Kaine, Stoney, Locke, Bourne and Nelson tell them They respond to a special Free Press invitation
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Honoring greatness
Statue of Richmond pioneer Maggie L. Walker unveiled to cheers at gateway to Jackson Ward
Richmond residents and officials rejoiced Saturday morning as the long-awaited statue of hometown hero Maggie Lena Walker was unveiled.
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Stop the madness
We are tired of President Trump and his lies. And we are particularly aggravated by his hubris and deceit when it comes to his connections with Russia and his collusion with the Kremlin to win the November 2016 presidential election.
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VSU president tells vision for ‘opportunity university’ at investiture
The mood was light and upbeat, hopeful yet determined at the investiture service last Friday for Dr. Makola M. Abdullah, Virginia State University’s 14th president. “I first met him … as a dashiki-wearing dude from Chicago,” said Dr. Henry Lewis, former president of Florida Memorial University and a former boss of Dr. Abdullah, who served as provost and vice president for academic affairs at the Miami Gardens, Fla., institution during Dr. Lewis’ tenure.
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Grief unifies nation
Richmond mourns in solidarity following Orlando massacre
In what has become all too common, several Richmond churches and community groups gathered this week to hold vigils and pray for victims of gun violence. This time, the songs of solace and tears of despair were for the slaughter unleashed Sunday morning when 29-year-old gunman Omar Mateen killed 49 people and wounded 53 others at an Orlando, Fla., nightclub frequented by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender patrons.
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Tennis champion Naomi Osaka brings racial justice to her Grand Slam win
Naomi Osaka capped a transformative U.S. Open by winning her third Grand Slam title and challenging millions of people watching across the globe last Saturday to “start talking” about racial justice.
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Richmond School Board grapples with money issues, school name change
The Richmond School Board and Superintendent Jason Kamras struggled at the board’s meeting on Monday to wrap their arms around continuing daunting budgetary tasks and RPS’ potential future financial shortfall. Mr. Kamras laid out plans to spend $12.5 million that was unused by Richmond Public Schools during the current school year, turned over to the city and is being returned to RPS in City Council’s 2018-2020 budget approved earlier this month.
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Nationwide talent bring boost to VCU Rams
Virginia Commonwealth University searches near and far for basketball talent, but lately the emphasis has been on far. Of Coach Mike Rhoades’ 14 players, just two are Virginians and only one has Richmond ties.
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VSU men’s team wins Freedom Classic, while VUU Lady Panthers clinch victory
The Virginia State University basketball team started this season with a multitude of questions. Since then, it has come up with all the right answers.
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Menaced by Florence
Changing forecast for hurricane keeps Virginians on alert
More than 1 million people along the Virginia and Carolina coast fled toward higher ground this week in a mass evacuation ordered just days before the expected arrival of Hurricane Florence, a Category 3 storm and the most powerful to menace the region in nearly three decades.
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U.S. Catholic bishops to meet amid growing sexual abuse crisis
VATICAN CITY Catholic bishops in the United States announced Tuesday that, at the behest of Pope Francis, they will meet for a weeklong retreat in Chicago in January.
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Teachers learn about slavery at Lee’s birthplace
At Stratford Hall in Virginia, birthplace of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, a group of K-12 teachers gathered recently to talk about slavery and how to teach it.
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Taking potshots at vaccines
Measles cases have cropped up across 12 states over the last 10 weeks, nearly two decades since the highly contagious disease was said to be eradicated in the United States. Temple University in Philadelphia has reported more than 100 cases of mumps in an outbreak, and more cases are spreading across the Philadelphia region.
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Teaching pays off
Inspiring 8th-grade teacher at Richmond’s Lucille M. Brown Middle School wins $25,000 national ‘Oscars of teaching’ award
The mystery and hush filling the gymnasium at Richmond’s Lucille M. Brown Middle School on Wednesday morning became a cacophony of cheers and applause when teacher Ryan James was announced the winner of the $25,000 Milken Educator Award.
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Conservative school rezoning calls for no closures in city
North of the James River, Richmond appears to have too many school buildings and could easily close one high school, a middle school and at least one elementary school in Church Hill.

