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50th anniversary: Obama to call for restoration of 1965 Voting Rights Act
With the 50th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act, congressional Democrats are commemorating the landmark law with events across the country — from the steps of the U.S. Capitol to the foot of the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Alabama.
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‘Golden Girl’ returns an Olympic hero in bocce
Mary Davis is Richmond’s newest “Golden Girl.” At 72, she proves it’s never too late to shine athletically.
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Parker on par for record books
Golfer Addie Parker is adept at making pars, birdies, eagles and, yes, history. The 15-year-old daughter of Flotilla and Tracy Parker of Chesterfield County has blazed her name into the Richmond Golf Association (RGA) record books.
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Officer charged in killing motorist
“He purposely killed him.” That’s how an Ohio prosecutor described a white police officer’s gruesome actions in gunning down an unarmed African-American motorist he pulled over for not having a front license plate.
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Center awaits end of bankruptcy
The 300-member Richmond Christian Center is poised to leave bankruptcy after nearly two years, with the finances of the South Side church restored.
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Gov. appoints Fairfax judge to state’s high court
The Northern Virginia judge who presided over one of the D.C. sniper trials was appointed Monday to the Virginia Supreme Court.
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Dr. Bedden gets $12,579 raise
That’s the new salary for Richmond Public Schools Superintendent Dana T. Bedden. With the start of the 2015-16 fiscal year on July 1, he is eligible to receive another $23,758 — up to 10 percent of his salary — based on performance incentives and $28,500 in a deferred compensation plan.
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Ghanaian Fred Sekyere strikes for Richmond Kickers
Fred Owusu Sekyere is the Richmond Kickers’ diminutive dynamo.
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Family of woman found hanged in Texas jail calls for federal probe
Was Sandra Bland murdered? That’s what distraught family and friends of the 28-year-old woman are asking after she was discovered hanging by a plastic garbage bag in a Texas jail cell three days after she was arrested during a routine traffic stop that turned confrontational.
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Doing the dawdle
Sometimes it takes this city forever to get things done. Take the statue to the great lady of Richmond, Maggie L. Walker, who rose from poverty to become, among other things, the first African-American female to charter and run a bank in this country. Richmond just celebrated the 151st birthday of Mrs. Walker on July 15.
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Mo’ne Davis wins ESPY Award
Mo’ne Davis continues to add to her already crowded trophy shelf. The teen sensation’s latest accolade?
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Treveon Graham kicks up Spurs in summer league championship
Former Virginia Commonwealth University star Treveon Graham is making a strong bid to earn a spot on the roster of the NBA powerhouse San Antonio Spurs or on their Development League team.
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Personality: Robin M. Brown
Spotlight on Grand Worthy Matron of the Order of the Eastern Star
Robin M. Brown seeks to make a positive difference in the lives of children and others in the community. That’s why she joined the Richmond-based Order of the Eastern Star of Virginia at the behest of her mother-in-law, Erma R. Brown, in 1996. The fraternal organization is affiliated with the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Virginia Free and Accepted Masons.
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Black vendors hoping for bigger score at NFL camp
The owners of Big Herm’s Kitchen and Croaker’s Spot — two popular local black-owned eateries — hope fans will bring a hardier appetite to the Washington professional football team’s training camp than they did to last year’s.
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Bagby handily wins 74th House District seat
Lamont Bagby just jumped from the Henrico School Board into the General Assembly. The 38-year-old Democrat was sworn in this week to the House of Delegates after winning a smashing victory over challenger David M. Lambert, an independent candidate, in Tuesday’s special election for the 74th House District seat.
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Metropolitan Business League sells Jackson Ward headquarters
The Richmond area’s largest African-American business group has waved goodbye to its former home in Jackson Ward. The Metropolitan Business League last month sold its longtime headquarters at 2nd and Marshall streets to a subsidiary of Washington-based Douglas Development, which has been buying up chunks of Downtown for more than 10 years.
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Getting praise, worship on at Gospel Music Fest
At age 80, gospel music icon Dorothy Norwood still can spiritually move an audience. Known as “Gospel’s greatest storyteller,” she demonstrated her star power again Sunday evening as the headliner before an overflow audience at Dogwood Dell at the 6th Annual Gospel Music Fest.
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Case against Bill Cosby continues to escalate
The latest in the Bill Cosby case has drawn attention to an unusual condition. A lawyer for one of the women who accused the comedian of sexual assault raised the possibility that he might have the little-known condition called somnophilia.
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$5.9M settlement for Garner family in chokehold death
The family of Eric Garner, who died after a white police officer put him in a chokehold a year ago, renewed calls this week to criminally charge the police officer, a day after the family reached a $5.9 million settlement with New York City.
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Like the swastika, Confederate flag stands for hate
I am getting sick and tired of hearing people complaining about taking down the Confederate flag at the South Carolina statehouse. What is it with these people always crying the blues over that flag and the fact the South lost the war 150 years ago?