Story

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.
Story
Story

Booted out
After days of protests and videos of police tear-gassing and pepper-spraying peaceful crowds, Richmond Police Chief Will Smith was asked to resign Tuesday by Mayor Levar M. Stoney
A year ago, new Richmond Police Chief Will Smith was extolled as the best thing since sliced bread when it came to leading 754 sworn officers in the fight against crime.
Story

‘I was handed a death sentence’
Advocates help NAACP stalwart Ora Lomax receive life-saving dialysis after a Henrico center moves to terminate her treatment
Getting kicked out of a dialysis clinic is the worst thing that can happen to a patient with failing kidneys. But that is what 86-year-old Ora M. Lomax has been facing.
Story

Cherished Holiday Memories
Four Richmond area residents shared with the Richmond Free Press their most cherished holiday memories. We hope their reflections will bring to mind joyful recollections of your own during this special season.
Story

Advocates rally for prison reform bills at State Capitol
Activists, family members and supporters rallied last Saturday at the Bell Tower in Capitol Square to support prison reform bills filed recently in the General Assembly, including measures such as parole, record expungement and incentives for good behavior.
Story

Justice Clarence Thomas talks about his faith in new documentary
U.S. Supreme Court Jus- tice Clarence Thomas, who is known for his reticence, speaks for much of a new two-hour documentary about his life.
Story

Bloodshed
Gilpin Court becomes a lightning rod for tragedy and possible change
Every day since Sunday, Takeila Knight has held her own personal vigil outside the Gilpin Court apartment of her stepbrother, Marvin Christopher “Pee Wee” Eley, 26, one of the four people killed early Sunday morning in a horrific spate of violence in the public housing community.
Story

Personality: Ron J. Melancon
Spotlight on founder of Dangerous Trailers, a safety advocacy organization
Ron J. Melancon is a passionate voice and advocate for safety and saving lives across the United States and in Europe.
Story

Winners and losers
Mayor Levar M. Stoney offers details of his $1.42B, 2-year budget plan
High school students would be able ride GRTC buses without charge on an unlimited basis for a year. After-school programs for city youths would be expanded by enabling six city recreation centers to stay open longer and through support for programs offered by the YMCA, the YWCA and several other youth-serving groups.
Story

Panthers pounce all over Trojans
The rafters of Virginia Union University’s historic Barco-Stevens Hall are adorned with retired jerseys.
Story

Remembering VUU’s glory days as NCAA champions
There will be no national college basketball championships to celebrate this season. As unfortunate as that is, the pause in sports because of the coronavirus pandemic offers an opportunity to reflect on past glory.
Story

Rev. Joseph Lowery, head of SCLC and dean of civil rights veterans, dies at 98
The Rev. Joseph E. Lowery fought to end segregation, lived to see the election of the country’s first African-American president and echoed the call for “justice to roll down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream” in America.
Story

Personality: Joeffrey Trimmingham
Spotlight on board president of ART 180
What ART 180 does is more than art. The Jackson Ward-based nonprofit creates a space where young people can open doors to express themselves through the arts and to share their stories with others.
Story

NFL Hall of Fame ceremony gets emotional
One of the greatest leaders football has seen, Ray Lewis, used his Pro Football Hall of Fame induction speech last Saturday to call for more enlightened leadership in the United States.
Story

Personality: Dr. Cynthia O. Richardson
Spotlight on president of the Petersburg Area Art League
Cynthia Owens Richardson, president of the Petersburg Area Art League, wants the nonprofit to be a mecca for people to explore, experience and be inspired by art.
Story

Personality: Mary R. Sadovszky
Spotlight on chair of CancerLINC’s Bags & Bourbon Benefit
Mary R. Sadovszky, chair of the Bags & Bourbon Benefit, a live and silent auction to benefit CancerLINC, is working weekends and nights to make this charitable event Richmond’s most memorable spring fundraiser.
Story

It’s a sweep!
Virginia elects Democrats to top posts, other offices
In a result seen as a wholesale rejection of a president many see as unfit, and a message to the political party that has backed him, fired up Virginia voters ensured Democrats retained control of the top tiers of state government and replaced at least a dozen seasoned Republican lawmakers in the General Assembly to boot.
Story
Story

Personality: Dr. Lester D. Frye
Spotlight on president of the Baptist Ministers’ Conference of Richmond and Vicinity
In a time of adjustment and reinvention for communities as a whole, Lester Frye is working to guide both toward a better future.