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Herring: Training key to curb police bias, killings in the state
Better training. That’s the way to begin improving relationships between police officers and the residents they serve, particularly people of color, according to Attorney General Mark R. Herring. At a time when officer actions resulting in African-American deaths and injuries regularly make headlines, Mr. Herring announced he is taking action to upgrade training to head off such incidents in Virginia.
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VUU runs over J.C. Smith 31-3
Virginia Union University is about to make the first of what it hopes will be two trips this fall to Durham County Memorial Stadium in North Carolina. The Panthers, now 3-1 following a 31-3 rout of Johnson C. Smith University last Saturday at Hovey Field, face CIAA foe Shaw University this Saturday in Durham, N.C.
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Bike hype
We’re now learning whether the international bike races are a winner for Richmond. Opinion is mixed. One thing is clear: Anyone who expected 450,000 people to flood into town to view 1,000 of the world’s top cyclists compete for medals misunderstood the size of this event from the get-go.
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Mobile home residents file lawsuit against Richmond
Current and former residents of two South Side mobile home parks have accused the City of Richmond of waging a deliberate campaign to force them from their homes through an aggressive code enforcement campaign. Now they are fighting back.
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The Donald’s trump card
The fate of the Republican Party’s presidential sweepstakes at the moment is being controlled by two political Frankensteins – both of them of the GOP’s own creation.
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Post-Ferguson progress, issues
One year ago, on Aug. 9, 2014, a white Ferguson, Mo., police officer shot and killed Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager. The shooting and law enforcement response, including the deployment of military equipment against largely peaceful protesters and a blue wall of silence around the details of the shooting itself, left the world wondering whether they were watching events unfold in America or under some authoritarian regime.
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More than ‘Cecil’ hunted
For more than a century, African tour operators (usually white people) have helped their European and American clients bag what they term “The Big Five.” This refers to the five most dangerous and difficult animals in Africa to hunt on foot — the African elephant, black rhinoceros, Cape buffalo, lion and leopard. But history reveals there was a sixth prey not mentioned in the literature and the folklore of the Great White Hunters. That dangerous inhabitant of the African continent was the African himself.
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Prosperity preachers to pray at Trump inaugural
Bishop Wayne T. Jackson, who hosted President-elect Donald Trump with his Detroit congregation in September, is among the religious leaders chosen to offer prayers at the new president’s swearing-in next week in Washington. The inaugural committee announced that prosperity gospel preachers Bishop Jackson, who leads Great Faith Ministries International, and Pastor Paula White, a friend of the president-elect, will join four others selected to participate in the inauguration on Friday, Jan. 20.
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Receptions, other events mark Mayor Stoney’s public inauguration
Congratulations and handshakes were the hallmarks of Richmond Mayor Levar M. Stoney’s ceremonial public installation into the city’s chief executive post.
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Officer acquitted in shooting
Henrico Police Officer Joel D. Greenway did nothing wrong when he shot up a car he was trying to stop from leaving a gas station’s parking lot on Nine Mile Road, gravely wounding a female passenger in unleashing seven bullets at the unarmed occupants.
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VCU to take on ODU Saturday in Norfolk
Football has come between Virginia Commonwealth University and Old Dominion University, except for one night a year. In one of the state’s oldest basketball rivalries dating to 1948, the VCU Rams will travel by bus to Norfolk on Saturday, Dec. 10, to meet the ODU Monarchs at the Ted Constant Convocation Center.
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An appeal to Donald Trump
On Sunday, a man armed with an assault weapon marched into a popular pizza place — Comet Ping Pong — in Washington. He said he had come to “self-investigate” false stories spread by hate sites that the restaurant was the center of a Hillary Clinton ring trafficking in children. He reportedly fired his rifle one or more times and was arrested. Luckily, no one was injured.
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Council approves $1.7M for new police hires
During the next eight months, Richmond expects to add 75 new police officers to beef up its declining force. That includes two classes of recruits at the Training Academy and two additional classes of recruits to begin the six to seven months of training within two months, according to Police Chief Alfred Durham.
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Immigration ban no profile in courage
President Trump’s most recent provocation — suddenly issuing an order banning the admission into the United States of refugees and immigrants from seven predominantly Muslim countries — created chaos and fury that had to be expected. Airports across the world were engulfed with demonstrators. Judges issued emergency orders staying enforcement of parts of the order. Families found their children studying abroad unable to return home, or their loved ones attending a funeral stranded in an airport. Translators who had risked their lives for American soldiers in Iraq suddenly found their green cards useless and their lives at great risk. Both intelligence professionals and State Department diplomats have protested the order.
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Rep. Scott’s Labor Day cookout
A 40-year tradition of serving hot dogs, politics
How often can you walk into a cookout, grab a hot dog and chat with U.S. senators, several Virginia mayors and perhaps the governor, without paying thousands?
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George Wythe wins opener for first time in 13 years
George Wythe High School found a quality quarterback and a long overdue victory all in the same week. As a result, the Bulldogs are 1-0 for the first time since 2003. “I saw some good things and some bad things. That’s always how a coach looks at it,” second-year head Coach Dion Foxx said after his 8-6 win last Friday at Armstrong High School.
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First Baptist’s new Chesterfield sanctuary to hold first service; probe of mayor-pastor continues
First Baptist Church of South Richmond is close to opening its satellite church in Chesterfield County, a project that has proven a trouble spot for its senior pastor, Richmond Mayor Dwight C. Jones. After more than 2 ½ years of construction, the 1,400-seat sanctuary in the 6200 block of Iron Bridge Road is expected to be ready for its first service Sunday, Sept. 25, church officials said Monday. The church’s website indicates the new sanctuary would serve as the site for the 9:15 a.m. service now held at Chesterfield County high school.
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University of Illinois making history
The University of Illinois football program is making history. The Big 10 Conference member is the lone FBS school with an African-American head coach — Lovie Smith — and African-American offensive and defensive coordinators — Garrick McGee and Hardy Nickerson, respectively.
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VSU wins home opener
When former NFL wide receiver Reggie Barlow was hired as Virginia State University football coach, many felt he would install a wide-open passing game. That may eventually come.
