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Protests in Israel over police brutality against Ethiopian Jews
At a protest on April 30, demonstrators blocked one of the city’s main traffic arteries and the light rails service. They marched toward the residence of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before being stopped by police with water cannons.
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Slavery memorial to gain in capital budget plan
The battle over the ballpark in Shockoe Bottom apparently is over. At the same time, hopes are fading for Richmond Public Schools to gain funding to develop essential new schools on South Side to relieve overcrowding.
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Justice Dept. opens investigation into Gray’s death; officers charged
There’s an uneasy quiet in Baltimore after six police officers were charged last week in the mysterious death of Freddie Gray while he was in their custody. Underneath the calm simmers apprehension and anger in the African-American community — ready to erupt again at any moment — if there’s another incident of police brutality against a black man in the town known as “Charm City.” That grim reality was clear Monday afternoon when angry community members and officers in riot gear quickly converged in West Baltimore after an erroneous TV report stated police had shot and perhaps fatally injured a young African-American man who was seen running away from pursuing officers.
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Services sacrificed in council’s $ plan
Richmond Public Schools is on track to gain an extra $9 million to help meet critical needs in the coming year. Police officers and firefighters also are on track to gain bigger raises of roughly 2.5 percent to help reduce turnover in public safety.
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Rayvon Owen hometown ‘Idol’
He sang for Richmond Boys Choir, took talent to national stage
Rayvon Owen’s eyes sparkled with delight. When the limousine carrying Rayvon and his mother, Patrice Fitzgerald, pulled up to the James Center in Downtown last Friday, about 1,000 cheering fans were waiting for him in the rain.
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$1 City selling home sites for low, moderate income families
Vacant property for $1. That’s the price that City Hall is setting to clear out its inventory of home sites and to help cut the future purchase price of the houses to be built on them. This effort also will help finish partially completed developments that have been on hold since the economic recession began in 2008. In a first step, at least 16 lots are being prepared for sale, primarily in Southern Barton Heights. A few lots in Swansboro on South Side and in Newtowne West near Virginia Union University also are part of the sale. The board of the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority, the properties’ nominal owner, helped clear the way by approving the transfer of the properties to the city at its meeting last week.
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Richmond schools to get boost from state
Higher than expected enrollment is helping Richmond Public Schools avoid falling into a deficit. Richmond reported 128 more students than expected on March 31, boosting total enrollment to 21,973 students in kindergarten through 12th grade, according to a report to the School Board. The extra students should result in a $1.6 million boost in the state’s contribution, according to the report from Ralph L. Westbay, assistant superintendent for financial services. The state contribution previously had been projected at $121.7 million.
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VSU, NSU still facing cutbacks
Cutbacks. That’s what Norfolk State and Virginia State universities are facing because of surprisingly steep enrollment drops. Enrollment at both of the state-funded, historically black institutions peaked in 2012 and then began a sharp decline. Based on current projections, both schools expect to enroll at least 25 percent fewer students in the fall than in 2012. That means less income and more need to reduce spending on staff and programs.
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Study: Teachers quicker to label black students as ‘troublemakers’
A new study suggests that racial stereotyping by teachers could be a root cause for harsher discipline imposed on black students. Two Stanford University psychologists, Dr. Jennifer L. Eberhardt and doctoral candidate Jason Okonofua, conducted the study to determine if hidden bias could explain government data showing that misbehaving black students are three times more likely to be suspended or expelled from public schools than their misbehaving white peers. The psychologists’ research found that teachers are quicker to label black students as troublemakers and to consider more severe penalties for them, compared with white students who misbehave.
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Vacant property at 1614 Sewell Ave. on South Side that the city has priced to sell for $1.
Published on May 5, 2015
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When Freedom Came series ‘educational and inspirational’
Re “When Freedom Came” series, March 26-28, April 2-4 and April 9-11 editions:
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An unexpected partnership
When Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake stepped before a bank of microphones last Saturday for a hastily called news conference, she was surrounded by people she credited with helping keep this city calm during a weeklong protest over the death of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old black man who died after suffering a spinal injury while in police custody.
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Black women’s lives matter, too
You know their names — Eric Garner, Michael Brown and Tamir Rice — because these African-American men were unarmed and killed by law enforcement officers. Their names have been part of a litany invoked when police shootings are discussed. Their deaths have been part of the impetus for the Black Lives Matter movement, especially because the police officers that killed these men — and a little boy — have paid no price for their murders.
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Inflamed
The fires that burned Monday and Tuesday night in Baltimore have pushed the nation toward the crucial, but much avoided introspection necessary to address critical issues of race and justice in America.
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Spotty CARE van service leaves riders in limbo
Roderyck Bullock has somewhere to go almost every day, but he doesn’t always make it. His ride sometimes arrives late. Occasionally, it doesn’t show up at all.
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Tear gas clouds surround a woman demonstrating Tuesday night in Baltimore over the death of Freddie Gray, who died of severe injuries suffered while in …
Published on May 1, 2015
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Eruption
Baltimore wracked by outrage as protesters turn violent. City, nation look for answers about race, police brutality.
Just hours after Loretta Lynch’s historic swearing in as the new U.S. attorney general and the first African-American woman to lead the Justice Department, mayhem erupted Monday in the streets of Baltimore following the funeral for Freddie Gray. The 25-year-old Mr. Gray died of severe injuries on April 19, a week after being arrested, handcuffed and tossed into a police van. His spine was nearly severed and his larynx was crushed while in police custody, authorities have reported.
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Jenner’s confession stirs up memories of tennis star Renée Richards
In a highly anticipated TV interview last week, Olympic decathlon champion Bruce Jenner told ABC’s Diane Sawyer that “for all intents and purposes, I am a woman.” Jenner’s revelation he is transitioning from male to female stirs recollections of another sports-related, transgender shocker — the case of Dr. Richard Raskind becoming Renée Richards.
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Rams rebuild team under Wade
The process of restocking Virginia Commonwealth University’s basketball roster is an ongoing task. New Rams Coach Will Wade has added Korey Billbury, a 6-foot-3 transfer from Oral Roberts University, and 6-foot-7 Gerron Scissum, a high school senior from Huntsville, Ala., to VCU’s roster for 2015-16.
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Tea and testimony draws over 100
Author Casey Curry was the guest speaker at Second Baptist Church’s annual Signature Tea and Testimony event last Saturday at a Downtown hotel. More than 100 people, including many women adorned with colorful hats, attended the event that focused on celebrating women, the roles they play and the challenges they have survived.
