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Personality: Shelby Brown McDowney
Spotlight on founder of Mission From The Heart Foundation
When a letter arrived from the Internal Revenue Service confirming that Shelby Brown McDowney’s newly formed organization, Mission From The Heart Foundation, received its nonprofit classification, it was like a ray of sunshine on a rainy day. “When I opened the mailbox and saw the letter, I started jumping up and down and dancing in the rain,” Ms. McDowney says. “I’ll never forget the day.”
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Personality: The Rev. Cora Harvey Armstrong
Spotlight on honoree of gospel tribute and appreciation service
Churches and religious music groups are uniting under the auspices of the Friends of Gospel Music at Trinity Bap- tist Church on Saturday, Nov. 16, to pay tribute to a pianist, composer and preacher, the Rev. Cora Harvey Armstrong.
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50 years and counting
Metropolitan Business League continues growing services, membership a half century after founding
Four days after Christmas, Floyd E. Miller II was in the Metropolitan Business League’s offices at 707 W. Main St. preparing for “a new year and new opportunities for new sources of funding” for the league through grants, foundations and fundraising events.
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Personality: Kevin Watson
“A lot of high school and college athletes see themselves as the next LeBron James-level professional athlete. But many falling short of that dream have to learn who they are and their skills and passions.”
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Personality: Franchon L. ‘Fran’ Randall
Spotlight on chef coordinator of ‘Sauté and Sizzle: Richmond Men Are Cooking’
Franchon L. “Fran” Randall is a good cook, even if she says so herself. The pescatarian’s favorite dish to whip up is fresh spinach, red onion, basil and fresh garlic and tomato sauce over angel hair pasta and topped with grilled or baked salmon.
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Personality: Stacey Squire
Spotlight on founder and president of Christina’s Love Foundation
Stacey Squire, founder and president of Christina’s Love Foundation, is dedicated to the simple mission of getting help to all victims of domestic violence who are in need.
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Personality: Dr. Renata A. Hedrington Jones
Spotlight on Black Social Workers’ NIA Lifetime Achievement winner
Growing up in a strong, close-knit family with a hard-working, disciplined, kind and unconditionally loving mother and aunt are the ingredients that produced Dr. Renata A. Hedrington Jones, winner of the National Association of Black Social Workers’ most coveted award.
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Personality: Jeffrey M. Gallagher
Spotlight on board chairman of Virginia Repertory Theatre
The largest producing theater in Central Virginia. The first theater to perform a live theater production before an integrated audience in post-Reconstruction Virginia in defiance of Jim Crow laws. Those are major milestones in the history of Virginia Repertory Theatre, which traces its early roots back to 1953 through the Barksdale Memorial Theatre at Hanover Tavern.
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Moving the needle
Holland and Nelson energized by Chesterfield, Henrico growth
“We’re on a journey toward excellence, to be the very best we can be, to be a model of what is expected by you, for you.” With those words, James M. “Jim” Holland assumed chairmanship of the Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors on Wednesday, Jan. 3., following a unanimous vote.
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Black history Month calendar
From films to speakers to talent shows and panel workshops, area organizations, churches, schools and museums are holding a plethora of events in February to celebrate Black History Month.
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Late for learning
School snafu kept student at home
Javian Buffaloe finally was able to start middle school on Tuesday — two weeks after classes began for most Richmond students.
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Mayor forces out his No.2 at City Hall
In an unexpected move, Mayor Jones, who has a little more than two years left in office, abruptly ousted Mr. Marshall, the No. 2 official at City Hall.
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A steal for the Squirrels?
Baseball team gets sweet deal with city’s five-year lease at The Diamond
Virtually free rent. That’s what the minor league baseball team, the Richmond Flying Squirrels, got in their new five-year lease deal on The Diamond.
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Taqqi Muhammad is John Marshall’s ‘Big D’
Taqqi Muhammad is held in such high esteem at Richmond’s John Marshall High School, and why the senior has landed a full scholarship to the University of North Carolina-Greensboro.
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Covid-19 cases going unreported
Amid a rise in COVID-19 cases and deaths in Virginia and nationally, a gap in reported positive cases has continued throughout Virginia, one that has persisted as the approach to monitoring the worst of the virus and testing for infection has changed and expanded, locally and statewide.
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City Council wants more time to study, consider collective bargaining
City Council hit the pause button Monday on authorizing collective bargaining for city employees.
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Motown songwriter, producer Lamont Dozier dead at 81
Lamont Dozier, the middle name of the celebrated Holland-Dozier-Holland team that wrote and produced “You Can’t Hurry Love,” “Heat Wave” and dozens of other hits and helped make Motown an essential record company of the 1960s and beyond, has died at age 81.
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Dr. Delores R. Greene, longtime educator and former VUU and VSU dean, dies at 86
Dr. Delores Ann Richburg Greene felt the call to be a teacher when she was just 4 years old and in pre-school. She would play school in the backyard of her Petersburg home, where she would provide instruction on reading to her neighborhood friends. From that beginning, Dr. Greene would follow her dream. In a career that spanned 57 years, she rose from a classroom teacher to become a dean in the College of Education at Virginia State University, her alma mater.
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102-year-old WWII veteran from segregated mail unit honored
Millions of letters and packages sent to U.S. troops had accumulated in warehouses in Europe by the time Allied troops were pushing toward the heart of Hitler’s Germany near the end of World War II. this wasn’t junk mail — it was the main link between home and the front in a time long before video chats, texting or even routine long-distance phone calls.

