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‘Kehinde Wiley: A New Republic’ opens Saturday at VMFA
Special to the Free Press Asked what “A New Republic” means, visual artist Kehinde Wiley replies rapid-fire. “It’s a space-clearing gesture.”
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Prince autopsy report hints at puzzling painkiller mystery
The report from the medical examiner who conducted Prince’s autopsy is tantalizing for what it doesn’t say. The single-page document released last week lists a fentanyl overdose as the cause of death, but it offers few clues to indicate whether the musician was a chronic pain patient desperately seeking relief, a longtime opioid user whose habit became an addiction or a combination of both.
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Highland Springs junior vaulting toward championship
As a younger athlete, Chris St. Helen tried his luck at basketball, football and long-distance running, and he was average. Then he discovered the pole vault and he was average no more. From then on, it has been up, up and away.
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President Carter pushes for interracial Baptist cooperation
Pastors Frederick Haynes and George Mason both lead Baptist churches in Dallas, but they had never met until the not-guilty verdict in the death of Florida teen Trayvon Martin brought them together in 2013.
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Polls open Tuesday for 4th District primaries
Who will represent Richmond in Congress? Next week, voters will take the first step toward choosing a new representative to Washington. They will do so by selecting standard-bearers for the Democratic and Republican parties in a state-run primary election. Polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday, June 14.
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Clinton primary wins assure Dem nomination
Eight years after conceding the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination to then-rival Barack Obama, the first African-American to be the standard-bearer for a major political party, Hillary Clinton is poised to make history of her own. Tuesday night, the former U.S. senator and secretary of state took her place as the Democratic Party’s presumptive presidential nominee after claiming victory over persistent U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont.
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Verizon strike ends
Nearly 40,000 striking Verizon employees in Virginia and eight other states returned to work June 1 after reaching a tentative contract agreement.
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Farewell to the champ
Muhammad Ali fought for justice, equality and title
More than 62 years ago, an anonymous bicycle thief in Louisville, Ky., unknowingly set in motion the amazing career of a boxing legend and remarkable world figure who would live up to his self-billing as “The Greatest.”
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City Hall cracking down on false burglar, fire alarms
City Hall is about to crack down on false alarms at homes and businesses, including halting police responses to locations that have multiple false alarms. After years of balking, Richmond City Council has given Mayor Dwight C. Jones’ administration the green light to overhaul the city’s program for dealing with false alarms — with surprising little notice to the public. Among the big changes effective July 1, private property owners with burglar and/or fire alarms will be required to obtain a permit to operate their alarms.
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City budget deficit pegged at $4.1M
The City of Richmond is facing a $4.1 million deficit and likely will have to dip into savings to avoid being in the red when the books close June 30 on the current 2015-16 fiscal year. That’s according to Lenora Reid, the city’s chief financial officer.
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Cruising // Under the watchful eye of her father, Tommy Davis, young Luci cruises on her bicycle along the 500 block of South Davis Avenue …
Published on June 3, 2016
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GOP ‘needs to cease their tireless efforts to deny and restrict folks’ from voting
I must take umbrage with the Republican majority of the General Assembly and its leadership. Once again, this partisan body of legislators has shown that it is more concerned with wasting taxpayers’ dollars in a frivolous lawsuit against Gov. Terry McAuliffe over restoration of voting rights for more than 200,000 individuals rather than providing for the medical care of 400,000 families in the Commonwealth.
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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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Donations allow Armstrong High to ‘play ball’
The enthusiastic words “Play ball!” were heard on Armstrong High School’s campus this spring for the first time in many baseball seasons.
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Organization of ministers’ wives, widows hosts conference
The Virginia Association of Ministers’ Wives and Ministers’ Widows will host a conference to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the organization’s international association.
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MLK Middle not living up to his name
Richmond School Board member Shonda Harris-Muhammed is calling on her colleagues and Superintendent Dana T. Bedden to stem a tide of alleged violence and assaults at Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School in the East End. In a recent Free Press interview, Ms. Harris-Muhammed, who represents the 6th District where the school is located, said more than 10 teachers and staff members from the school contact her regularly about their fears for their safety and that of others.
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City goes dim on solar streetlights
Richmond Mayor Dwight C. Jones has boasted many times during the last seven years about the solar streetlights that were installed in a West End neighborhood with taxpayers’ dollars.
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No $ to fix schools
The same rundown buildings that many Richmond students attend are likely to be the same buildings where a new crop of students will be attending class 10 years from now.
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Hundreds to benefit from payday loan settlement
Hundreds of low-income Richmond area residents will benefit from the settlement of a lawsuit challenging the lending practices of Advance ‘Til Payday, a company that charges up to 960 percent interest on loans of $100 to $300. The settlement will result in the dismissal of at least 50 garnishment actions and 800 judgments that Advance ‘Til Payday had obtained in court against borrowers who defaulted on the loans, according to Jay Speer of the Virginia Poverty Law Center, which brought the suit.
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Richmond School Board adopts budget; cuts funds for academic improvement plan
The Richmond School Board adopted a $280 million operating budget that eliminates $4 million in numerous programs and services, but includes money for a plan to increase salaries to attract and retain teachers.
