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Faith leaders, elected officials call for calm, respect for Muslims
Imam Ammar Amonette said he and the 2,000 members of his congregation at the Islamic Center of Virginia in Bon Air have seen the ugly face of hate in the wake of the recent terror attacks by Muslim extremists in San Bernadino, Calif., and Paris.
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Charles A. Brown, 73, former Virginia Power official
Charles A. Brown woke up every morning with the same purpose in mind. “He wanted to help as many young people as he could,” said Pauline Brown, his wife of 48 years. “He was an exceptional man, very loving and caring. He would give you the shirt off his back,” she added.
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Personality: Altamese R. Johnson
Spotlight on winner of AARP Virginia’s Shaw Advocacy Award
Altamese R. Johnson first met the late Elvira B. Shaw in the early 1990s, when the two attended an AARP meeting with Congressman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott of Newport News. The two became fast friends, advocating for issues important to AARP, whose stated mission is “leading positive social change and delivering value to people age 50 and over through information, advocacy and service,” according to the organization.
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Mistrial in Freddie Gray’s death
A mistrial was declared Wednesday in the case of a Baltimore police officer charged in the death of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old whose death while in police custody sparked riots last April.
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Dr. Makola M. Abdullah will take over the helm at Virginia State University on Feb. 1.
Published on December 18, 2015
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New VSU president shares vision, receives support at official introduction
Brimming with confidence and eager to get started, the new president of Virginia State University is promising to first listen to students, faculty and staff and then roll out a “strategic vision that will be bold and purposefully challenging.” Among other things, Dr. Makola M. Abdullah wants VSU to be known for providing “a quality education,” to invest in specialty academic areas that would make the university more attractive while continuing to be “an opportunity university” for students who might not be admitted elsewhere.
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Recount confirms Roscoe Cooper as School Board winner
It’s official. The Rev. Roscoe D. Cooper III is confirmed as the winner of the Fairfield District seat on the Henrico School Board — by 42 votes.
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Church backs away from Parson
“You all are a bunch of black idiots over there supporting someone who doesn’t care anything about black people,” one angry caller said in a voicemail message left for the Richmond Christian Center last week. Another caller chimed in: “If Donald Trump wasn’t running for president, he would have nothing to do with you a-holes.” A third anonymous caller said, “Your pastor is an ignoramus. I doubt if he has any degrees at all.”
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Former ROC property to become residential school for adults
The North Side building and property that once served as home to the Richmond Outreach Center’s School of Urban Ministry has a new owner.
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Falwell urges students to pack pistols
Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr. has urged students to carry concealed weapons on campus to counter any possible armed attack, saying that “we could end those Muslims before they walk in.” “Let’s teach them a lesson if they ever show up here,” Mr. Falwell told students at the private Christian school Dec. 4. His remarks make him the first president of a Virginia college or university to urge students to arm themselves and put him among the first in the country to do so.
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VSU reigns over VUU
In the longtime backyard basketball rivalry between Virginia Union and Virginia State universities, two thoughts emerge: Virginia Union owns the past.
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Protests continue after Chicago mayor’s apology
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, under heavy criticism for his handling of a 2014 police shooting that resulted in the death of a black teen, gave an emotional apology Wednesday, hours before angry demonstrators closed city streets while demanding his resignation.
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Dr. Bedden gets 2-year extension
The Richmond School Board presented Superintendent Dana T. Bedden with an early Christmas gift Monday when six of its nine members voted to extend his contract by two years — through June 30, 2019. The extension comes midway through Dr. Bedden’s initial 3½-year contract that began Jan. 13, 2014, and was scheduled to expire on June 30, 2017.
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School Board election recount set for Dec. 10
The Rev. Roscoe D. Cooper III is expected to learn this week whether his 43-vote victory will stand for the Fairfield District seat on the Henrico County School Board. The Henrico Circuit Court has ordered a recount Thursday, Dec. 10, to formally settle the race, according to county election officials.
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Accreditation sanction lifted from NSU; extended at VSU
Eddie N. Moore Jr. is wreathed in smiles, while Dr. Pamela V. Hammond is frowning. That’s how the interim presidents of Norfolk State and Virginia State universities, respectively, are greeting the latest word from the accrediting body, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools’ Commission on Colleges (SACS) based in Decatur, Ga.
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CBC head backs America’s College Promise Act
“Some people believe HBCUs are no longer needed and are irrelevant. They are under assault.” That was the sobering message U.S. Rep. George Kenneth “G. K.” Butterfield, chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, delivered on the state of historically black colleges and universities.
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New president named at VSU
Dr. Makola M. Abdullah to face financial, academic challenges
Dr. Makola M. Abdullah to face financial, academic challenges
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Coffee shop business grinds to a halt
A combination coffee and bike shop was supposed to be a first step in breathing fresh life into a neighborhood business strip in North Side. But four months after the ceremonial, high-profile ribbon-cutting, only the nonprofit bike shop remains in operation at 10 E. Brookland Park Blvd. — and just a few days a week.
