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Local favorites hitting NBA boards this season
Richmond’s legion of NBA fans will again have local favorites to follow on both sides of the country this season. Former Virginia Commonwealth University marksman Troy Daniels, who holds the Atlantic 10 record for the most three-pointers in a season, is beginning his fourth NBA season and his second with the Charlotte Hornets. Meanwhile, former Hanover High School/Benedictine/University of North Carolina standout Ed Davis will commence his fifth NBA season overall and first season with the Portland Trail Blazers.
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Police chief out amid protests of teen’s murder in Chicago
Chicago’s police chief was ousted on Tuesday following days of unrest over video footage showing the police shooting of a black teenager and the subsequent filing of murder charges against a white police officer in the young man’s death. The white officer, Jason Van Dyke, was charged Nov. 24 with first-degree murder in the killing of Laquan McDonald, 17, who was shot 16 times. The video of the killing was released on the day the former officer was charged.
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Two faces of Ben
Ayauna King-Baker loved Ben Carson’s “Gifted Hands” memoir so much that she made her daughter, Shaliya, read it. So when Dr. Carson showed up in town to sign copies of his new book, Mrs. King-Baker dragged the giggly 13-year-old along to the bookstore so they could both meet him.
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Mayor saves tree at planned Walker monument site
Yes, Richmond, that iconic Downtown tree is going to survive. That’s the word from Mayor Dwight C. Jones. He disclosed Wednesday that he is committed to saving the green-leafed live oak tree that dominates the triangular site earmarked for a proposed statue of renowned Richmonder Maggie L. Walker, the first African-American woman in the nation to establish and operate a bank.
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Playing the ‘Trump’ card
Richmond pastor of church in bankruptcy endorses billionaire despite controversial remarks
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Richmond school athletic programs need help
I feel profound sadness and dismay about the state of our athletic programs in Richmond. Having been born, raised, educated and employed here, I have witnessed our children being humiliated year after year with no end in sight. As Richmond’s mayor, former Gov. L. Douglas Wilder tried to offer leadership in regards to Richmond Schools by contending that there were too many schools. He was right. Inaction has relegated our schools to second class status. This is not to suggest that athletics is the most important issue facing our schools. Absolutely not!
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Expand Medicaid in the commonwealth
Expanding Medicaid in Virginia should be the dominant issue in the Virginia General Assembly session that begins in January.
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Let your spending reflect your values
The buildup began right after Halloween, when the newspapers got thicker, the advertising inserts longer and emails touting shopping bargains coming more frequently.
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Congressional Black Caucus chairman to speak Dec. 3 at VUU
Congressman George Kenneth “G. K.” Butterfield, chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, will address students at Virginia Union University at 3 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 3.
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VUU playoff hopes end in first round
In a game pitting two highly explosive offenses against each other, Virginia Union University came up about a firecracker short. Penalties, turnovers and a failed golden opportunity on the 1-yard line were chief culprits in the season-ending loss. Competing in the NCAA Division II football playoffs for the first time since 1991, the Panthers fell 40-21 at cold, windy Slippery Rock University in Pennsylvania during a first-round game for Super Region 1. Don’t be misled by the score.
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Southside Ducks, Battery Park big winners in city rec league play
Sheyheim Harris ran over tacklers for five touchdowns and Kevin Gayles punched in four extra points to lead the undefeated Southside Ducks to victory last Saturday in the Richmond Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities’ Youth Tackle Football Championship.
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Panthers b-ball hopes to come roaring back
There’s a common thread between one of Virginia Union University’s all-time basketball greats and its current leading man. Both A.J. English II and his protégé, Ray Anderson, hail from the hard courts of Wilmington, Del. The VUU faithful are hoping Anderson, hailed by some as the “Ray of Hope,” can usher the program back to the glory road. English recommended VUU to Anderson and arranged for a visit, recounted the 6-foot-3 junior guard Anderson. “That’s how I got here,” he said.
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VCU Rams jostle the crowns of basketball royalty
Native New Yorker Melvin Johnson wasn’t about to get blinded by the lights on arguably college basketball’s brightest stage, Madison Square Garden.
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Dr. Robert M. Screen, Hampton University’s longtime winning tennis coach, dies
Dr. Robert Martin Screen, who ushered Hampton University tennis into the national spotlight, died Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2015, in Hampton. In more than 40 years of coaching at HU, Dr. Screen led the Pirates to two NCAA Division II tennis championships, 22 straight CIAA titles and 11 consecutive MEAC crowns.
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Armed guards in the Richmond Public Library?
Frightening incidents spark the possibility
Are armed security guards needed in Richmond’s public libraries? Two recent unsettling incidents at the North Avenue Branch have convinced Richmond City Councilman Chris A. Hilbert that having an unarmed security guard is not enough at that branch to ensure that people “have a sense of safety and are safe.” On Oct. 28, a man with a rifle slung over his shoulder and a long knife strapped to his leg walked into the library as little children were engaged in a storytelling program, setting off alarms among the staff.
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Faith groups mobilize against opposition to Syrian refugees
Religious groups are pushing back against a wave of opposition toward Syrian refugees and are working to preserve the United States as a haven for those fleeing their war-torn nation.
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Chicago police officer charged with murder in death of black teen
A white Chicago policeman was charged Tuesday with murdering a black teenager, and authorities are hoping to stave off a fresh burst of the turmoil over race and police use of deadly force that has shaken the United States for more than a year. Officer Jason Van Dyke, 37, was denied bail at a hearing in Chicago’s main criminal courthouse hours after prosecutor Anita Alvarez announced charges of first-degree murder, or killing without lawful justification. If convicted, Officer Van Dyke could face 20 years to life in prison.
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Hammond’s contract extended at vsu
Dr. Pamela V. Hammond has agreed to spend an extra month as interim president of Virginia State University. The VSU Board of Visitors last week approved a one-month extension of Dr. Hammond’s contract that will keep her in place through Jan. 31.
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AG’s office premieres documentary on rising heroin epidemic Dec. 2
The office of Attorney General Mark R. Herring is premiering a documentary it has produced, “Heroin, The Hardest Hit,” 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 2, at the Library of Virginia, 800 E. Broad St., in Downtown.
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VCU now working on new children’s hospital
Virginia Commonwealth University plans to take the lead in developing a new inpatient children’s hospital in Richmond. After rebuffing a private group’s concept of an independent, freestanding hospital on the Boulevard, VCU is moving to create a plan for a dedicated hospital for children on its medical campus in Downtown.
