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Henrietta Lacks’ family settles lawsuit with biotech company
More than 70 years after doctors at Johns Hopkins Hospital took Henrietta Lacks’ cervical cells without her knowledge, a lawyer for her descendants said they have reached a settlement with a biotechnology company that they accused of reaping billions of dollars from a racist medical system.
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UPAL, Sa’ad El-Amin partnership seeks to decrease high levels of lead in soil, water
‘Our goal is to prevent thousands of children from experiencing lead poisoning like those in Flint’
To increase awareness of lead hazards in water and implore the City of Richmond to support a full retrofit of lead service lines, United Parents Against Lead (UPAL) on July 15 joined forces with 1619 Inc., headed by former Richmond Councilman, Sa’ad El-Amin.
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All is forgiven? by Charlene Crowell
When the Biden Administration announced its latest initiative to reduce the nation’s unsustainable trillion dollar student debt, both borrowers and advocates rejoiced. In the coming weeks an estimated 804,000 student loan borrowers will together receive $39 billion in federal loan debt cancellations.
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City’s plan leaves fewer people with shelter this winter
City Hall is ending its decades-old effort to prevent homeless people from freezing to death when temperatures plunge.
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Closing of area shelters leave many without shelter
Joe Barrett is back to living on the street. Left paralyzed on his left side by a stroke, the 62-year-old Richmond native is among more than 130 homeless people who lost their shelter beds Saturday.
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A Supreme surprise: How the Right rescued the Voting Rights Act, by Clarence Page
Although largely upstaged by former President Donald Trump’s federal indictment, the Supreme Court’s voting rights decision earlier this month is likely to have a game-changing impact for many years to come.
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Report card
Funding, other details still unclear a year after Fox Elementary fire
It will take at least two more years to reopen historic William Fox Elementary School in The Fan — but only if nearly $26 million is available to make it happen.
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Lee statue removed in U.S. Capitol; injunction remains keeping Monument Avenue statue
The statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee was removed with ease Monday from the U.S. Capitol, but the towering statue of the slavery-defending general will remain on Monument Avenue for now, courtesy of a Virginia Supreme Court ruling.
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Damon Hewitt named new executive director of Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
The executive committee of the Washington, D.C.-based Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law has announced that veteran civil rights attorney and policy expert Damon Hewitt will serve as the organization’s next president and executive director.
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Parents weigh COVID-19 vaccination for their children
Kiara Gresham has been busy with the demands of her new small business, Cookie Jar Honeypot, and the need to ensure the education, health and well-being of her children during the pandemic and a virtual school year. With summer getting closer and the new school year months away, Ms. Gresham is taking on a new task: Learning all she can about vaccinating her two older children, Queron, 14, and Kaeoni, 12, against COVID-19.
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Biles makes history in return to competition at U.S. Classic
Time on her hands and a world-class gym at her disposal after the 2020 Olympics were postponed, Simone Biles started experimenting almost as a way to stave off the monotony of training.
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As death penalty opponent celebrates, vigilance continues
For Dale Brumfield, the likely abolition of the death penalty in Virginia is “a revolution in criminal justice reform.”
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NCAA: GOING TO THE BIG DANCE: Liberty University Flames player Darius McGhee rises to occasion
When the Liberty University Flames jump for joy, no one jumps higher than Darius McGhee.
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After video backlash, NCAA addresses inequities at women’s and men’s tournaments
The NCAA’s inequities in women’s sports are showing. And the NCAA officially, embarrassed mightily on social media, moved quickly to try to clean up the problems.
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VMI appoints Black interim superintendent amid shakeup
The Virginia Military Institute has selected a retired U.S. Army major general to serve as its interim superintendent amid a leadership shakeup that followed a newspaper article describing allegations of persistent racism at the school.
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South Side churches merge, with Pastor Alexander ‘Jay’ Patrick as new head
Celebration Church and Outreach Center, formerly the Richmond Outreach Center, ap- pears to have merged with the nearby Liberation Church, with Pastor Alexander “Jay” Patrick of Liberation named the pastor of the newly merged church.
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Who will be NBA Rookie of the Year?
LaMelo Ball did everything and more that could have been expected of him — everything, that is, but stay healthy.
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2021 Year in Photos
The year 2021 was a tug of war between the life changes precipitated by the COVID-19-related shutdowns of 2020 and efforts to return to a pre-COVID way of life.
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How young people can save America, by Jesse L. Jackson, Sr.
My new year’s wish this year is that across the country, every high school gives each graduate a diploma and a voter registration card, and every center of education and training — whether community college or four-year university, technical training or business school — ensures that every entering student is registered to vote.
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Eyeing state title, John Marshall's Justices rule the courts
John Marshall High’s basketball Justices likely held a winning hand without any outside help this season.
