Story

Personality: Elizabeth C. ‘Lizzie’ Childress
Spotlight on Richmond Public Schools 2023 top valedictorian
Lizzie Childress will be recognized as valedictorian at her graduation from Richmond’s Open High School and her 5.2958 GPA also made her the Richmond Public Schools 2023 top valedictorian.
Story

Free community testing for COVID-19 continues
The Richmond and Henrico County health districts are offering testing at the following locations:
Story

New leader of Richmond Crusade for Voters
Jerome Legions Jr. is now the former president of the Richmond Crusade for Voters.
Story

Democratic primary for 14th Senate District underway
With early voting ongoing for the June 20 Democratic primary, the candidates each spoke with the Richmond Free Press about some of the issues that are on the minds of voters in the new 14th Senate District.
Story

Against AI, political punditry can still do the write thing, by Clarence Page
Striking Hollywood writers are nervous about artificial intelligence — also known as AI — and I’m not feeling so good myself.
Story

Celebrating ‘the voice of Black America’, by Marc H. Morial
“Show me a person who is full of prejudice, and I will show you a sick, unhappy, fearful individual who is not going anywhere and who is not growing. People don’t shut other people out; they fence themselves in.” – Whitney M. Young Jr.
Story

High court diluted Voting Rights Act a decade ago, prompting wave of new voting rules
Within hours of a U.S. Supreme Court decision dismantling a key provision of the Voting Rights Act, Texas lawmakers announced plans to implement a strict voter ID law that had been blocked by a federal court.
Photo

Hundreds enjoy the Richmond Symphony’s Big Tent concert series playing at Abner Clay Park in Historic Jackson Ward for the first time Saturday, May 27. …
Published on June 1, 2023
Story

The need for food and shelter grows for city’s homeless
“The need has tripled,” Rhonda Sneed said. “More and more people are experiencing a crisis at this time, and so many with food insecurity. I am seeing more people seeking some form of nourishment from a trash receptacle.”
Story

Shielding from responsibility?
City mum on funds diverted to police
Mayor Levar M. Stoney joined community partners Tuesday to announce the city is all for trying to prevent the killings that leave bodies in the street and families in mourning. However, during his City Hall press conference, the mayor didn’t mention that just a few weeks ago his administration gained approval from
Story

5 takeaways from The Associated Press series on health disparities impacting Black Americans
The Associated Press spent a year examining how racial health disparities have harmed generations of Black Americans.
Story

Personality: Brandy W. Stoney
Spotlight on Robinson Theater Community Arts Center board president
The Robinson Theater Community Arts Center is a Church Hill institution that opened in 1937 as the first theater for African-Americans in the area. After closing in the 1980s, it reopened as an event space for children and adults in 2009. For Brandy W. Stoney, the current president of the Robinson Center board, the building is “now like home to me,” and an East End legacy that she enjoys helping to guide and sustain.
Story

Servant leader Gregory A. Cummings dies at 67
Former MEGA Mentors president assisted thousands of area youths
Gregory A. Cummings, a role model for Chesterfield County and Petersburg youths, was memorialized Tuesday at Second Baptist Church in South Side Richmond. He died Saturday, May 20, 2023, at age 67.
Story

Festival of the Arts
The 66th edition of Richmond’s Festival of the Arts at Dogwood Dell in Byrd Park will launch Saturday, June 10, with a six-hour showcase of music, dance, food and culture of immigrants who now live in the Richmond area.
Story

Free community testing for COVID-19 continues
The Richmond and Henrico County health districts are offering testing at the following locations:
Story

Agreement limits low-income housing in redeveloped Creighton Court
Highly visible work is underway along Nine Mile Road in the East End as crews and machines prepare the land for the new townhouses and apartments that eventually will replace the 504 public housing units in Creighton Court.
Story

Hamilton Street to house Fire Department
The Richmond Fire Department is moving after 15 years at 201 E. Franklin St.
Story

Is Tim Scott running for president or chaplain in chief?, by Julianne Malveaux
South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott has joined the throng of Republicans seeking to unseat the former president as the frontrunner of that party. So far, Sen. Scott is polling in the single digits, but he has $22 million left from his last senatorial race that he can use for his presidential race.
Story

What we can no longer permit, by Ben Jealous
Picture a mountain valley somewhere in the Alleghanies, Appalachians or Blue Ridge. It’s a safe bet what you just imagined didn’t include a metal pipeline more than 3 feet wide running down a steep ridge or crossing a pristine stream.
Story

Richmond Public Schools must do better, by Mayor Levar M. Stoney
To be a city where everyone has a fair shot to thrive, we must support our youngest residents and those who care for them.