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Charles Oakley, Charlie Stukes among 2016 inductees into Va. Sports Hall of Fame
For the second year in a row, a former Virginia Union University basketball center has been named to the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame. Charles Oakley, the NCAA Division II Player of the Year for VUU in 1985, will be inducted April 30 at the Renaissance-Portsmouth Norfolk Waterfront Hotel in Portsmouth.
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Bus Rapid Transit
Can Richmond afford to maintain proposed expensive bus service?
Can Richmond afford to operate the proposed Bus Rapid Transit system that promises speedier travel and is described as the biggest revamp in public bus service in the city in at least 50 years?
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Private money dries up for Kanawha Plaza project
Last July, Richmond City Council gave Mayor Dwight C. Jones’ administration the green light to overhaul 35-year-old Kanawha Plaza, the three-acre park that sits across from the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. The council acted after being assured that virtually all of the $6 million cost would come from gifts from big corporations and law firms located near the park.
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Richmond Public Schools losing budget director during critical season
Richmond Public Schools is losing one of its chief budget architects as the School Board and Superintendent Dana T. Bedden prepare to kick off their budget negotiations for fiscal year 2017 with Mayor Dwight C. Jones and Richmond City Council. Betsy Drewry, RPS director of budget and planning, will leave her position Friday, Feb. 5, to become director of budget and finance for Prince George County, she told the Free Press at Monday’s School Board meeting at City Hall. Ms. Drewry is exiting after 18 months in the position. She was the Prince George school system’s budget chief for 14 years prior to coming to Richmond.
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Source: City Hall knew Adediran was managing church project
It was no secret at Richmond City Hall that city Public Works Director Emmanuel O. Adediran was doubling as project manager for a new $5.3 million sanctuary that First Baptist Church of South Richmond is building in Chesterfield County, the Free Press has learned. According to a highly knowledgeable source, “everyone knew (Mr. Adediran) had been asked by the mayor to help with the church project.”
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Tree not sole obstacle at Maggie Walker site
Too small and too congested with traffic. That reality is starting to clash with the vision of creating a $600,000 to $800,000 plaza and statue celebrating Maggie L. Walker at the intersection of Broad and Adams streets and Brook Road in Downtown.
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Challenger seeks to overturn results of postal union election
One of Richmond’s oldest labor organizations — the Old Dominion Branch Local 496 of the National Association of Letter Carriers — is engulfed in an election fight. The fight is over the election of Thelma J. Hunt as the first female president in the branch’s history, which dates back to 1893.
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Va. Legislative Black Caucus reception at VMFA // Members of the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus gathered Monday for their annual reception before the start of …
Published on January 15, 2016
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Salvation needed
Like most of us, Richmond Mayor Dwight C. Jones has a lot to pray about. Unfortunately for him, it’s about his church, First Baptist Church of South Richmond, and the city. Unfortunately for us, the Richmond taxpayers, it’s about his church and the city — and the intersection of the two apparently without transparency or accountability.
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Freedom Classic comes to Coliseum Sunday
It’s fitting that someone from historic Yorktown has helped spark a basketball revolution at Virginia State University. The reasons are numerous why VSU has vaulted from the bottom to the top of the CIAA standings. You can start the list with versatile 6-foot-8 junior Elijah R. Moore, aka “ERM,” from Yorktown’s Grafton High School.
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Denzel receives top Golden Globe award
Oscar-winning actor Denzel Washington joined the ranks of Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro when he was awarded the Golden Globe for lifetime achievement Sunday.
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Shaka Smart loses match to Tubby Smith
Two of NCAA basketball’s more prominent African-American coaches, both with ties to Virginia Commonwealth University, went head-to-head Saturday, Jan. 2, in Lubbock, Texas.
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Chaise Johnson eyeing options after Steward School
Like many star high school guards, Chaise Johnson has speed, court smarts and a keen shooting eye. Unlike most, he also has a former NBA first-round draft choice as his longtime tutor. The Steward School all-time scorer credits Cory Alexander — San Antonio’s first-round draft pick in 1995 — with advancing his development.
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In wake of terror attacks
Kaine: Will you hold on to your principles, faithfulness?
Religious leaders and community members of various faiths exchanged smiles, hugs and well wishes as they made new acquaintances Sunday at Congregation Beth Ahabah near Virginia Commonwealth University. Several hundred people gathered at an event designed to promote religious tolerance and nonviolence. Many wore the head coverings of their religions — Muslim women wearing hijabs, Sikh men in turbans and some Jewish men wearing kippahs. The occasion was the first “Standing Together” faith unity gathering organized by the Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities.
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Richmond School Board elects new chairman
“I think we are at a critical time at our tenure and at a critical juncture in making progress in Richmond Public Schools. I felt compelled to continue the progress that we have made.” Jeffrey M. Bourne, 3rd District, told the Free Press on Tuesday that’s why he agreed to serve as chair of the Richmond School Board.
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City becomes dumping ground again // Just weeks after a community cleanup, these alleys in Highland Park have been re-trashed. Unwanted mattresses now fill part …
Published on January 8, 2016
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Statue, plaza need to be done right
The legacy of Maggie L. Walker has been for decades a guiding light that shines on the heritage and values of the African-American community of Jackson Ward. A lighted statue that hails her many achievements is a statue long past due in the city of Richmond.
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Athletes, dollars and progress
As the University of Alabama football team prepares to line up against Clemson University on Jan. 11 in Glendale, Ariz., to decide the national collegiate football championship, it’s worth noting that the Crimson Tide wouldn’t be “rolling” in success and the money that accompanies it without its African-American players led by 2015 Heisman Trophy Winner Derrick Henry.
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Henrico High gym becomes ‘Buckingham Palace’
It’s about time for De’Monte Buckingham to be entered into the discussion of the Richmond area’s all-time, high school basketball greats. At least since the 1970s, few players have piled up more points — and more championships — than the Henrico High School megastar.
