Story
Pregnant woman sues Detroit, police officer after arrest involving facial recognition
A Detroit woman is suing the city and a police officer, saying she was falsely arrested when she was eight months pregnant and accused of a carjacking based on facial recognition technology that is now the target of lawsuits filed by three Black Michigan residents.
Story
Grandparents may hold key to overcoming COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy
Black seniors who themselves are vaccinated could be the trusted messengers the community needs to push the COVID-19 vaccination, public health experts said at a recent news briefing.
Story
Worries grow about City’s policy for sheltering the homeless
For apparently the first time in a decade, City Hall did not open a temporary shelter for the homeless when the temperature, including the wind chill, recently fell below 40 degrees.
Story
Cherished Holiday Memories
Christmas. It’s a time for family, sharing good food, holiday fun and heartfelt blessings. From the smell of dinner cooking for a family feast, to the glow of lights on a decorated Christmas tree, the season is rich with ingredients for wonderful memories that linger long after the holiday is gone. Six area residents shared with the Free Press their cherished memories of Christmases past. We hope their reflections will bring special joy and happy recollections of your own during this season.
Story
Personality: Carolyn Tibbs Hemphill
Spotlight on founder of the Hanover County Black Heritage Society
Black history runs deep in Hanover County, and Carolyn Tibbs Hemphill is on a mission to find it, preserve it and let the world know about it.
Story
Fourth Baptist Church tumult raises concern among congregation
Started in 1859 before the Civil War, Fourth Baptist Church is now a venerable beacon of Christian faith in Church Hill and the fountainhead from which nine other area churches have sprung. But a major dispute between the current pastor and a large portion of the membership over the church’s organizational structure is threatening to tear apart the 300-member congregation as Fourth Baptist prepares to mark its 162nd anniversary.
Story
Personality: Lashawnda S. Singleton
Spotlight on president of the Richmond Chapter of the National Association of Black Social Workers
From Miami to New York and finally Richmond, Lashawnda Shanell Singleton has seen and experienced the struggles of the poor and disadvantaged.
Story
Ryan McAdams seeks repeal or defunding of Affordable Care Act
Ryan McAdams has always liked a challenge, especially, he said, when it comes from God. That explains his decision to run on the Republican Party ticket to challenge 4th District Congressman A. Donald McEachin, a veteran Democratic lawmaker and seasoned attorney.
Story
Personality: Tara Michele Sample
Spotlight on ThisAbility’s founder who builds awareness, acceptance for people with disabilities
For more than a decade, Tara Michele Sample has provided a space for children and adults living with disabilities.
Story
Personality: Dr. Rodney P. Gaines
Most college professors start their spring semesters re-energized from the holiday break with memories of family gatherings and stories of whirlwind vacations. Dr. Rodney Perry Gaines is heading back to Hampton University with something quite unique under his belt: The titles of Mr. Universe won in December during the American Natural Bodybuilding Federation’s Natural Universe Championship in Key West, Fla.
Story
Holistic approach an alternative to affirmative action, by Clarence Page
Reading about the Supreme Court’s unsurprising affirmative action ruling, I was reminded of Sen. Hubert Humphrey’s defense of the landmark 1964 Civil Rights Act.
Story
Personality: Debra Sue Sims Fleisher
Spotlight on chair of 2015 Active Aging Week
Debra Sue Sims Fleisher has had a passion for exercising ever since she was a child. “My mother says that, as a little girl, I would dance to the sound of the washing machine. And I do remember dancing with a doorknob as my partner,” she recalls.
Story
Book expo Feb. 26 at Elegba Folklore Society
Authors of adult and children’s books will be featured speakers at the Black History Book Exposition to be held 2 to 7 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 26, at the Elegba Folklore Society, 101 E. Broad St. in Downtown, it has been announced.
Story
Ghanaian Fred Sekyere strikes for Richmond Kickers
Fred Owusu Sekyere is the Richmond Kickers’ diminutive dynamo.
Story
A mother’s grief
Catherine Uwasomba seeks clues, answers to her daughter’s disappearance, death
Catherine Uwasomba seeks clues, answers to her daughter’s disappearance, death
Story
Chesterfield students to benefit from new outdoor classroom
Salem Church Middle School and Communities In Schools of Chesterfield (CIS) hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Nov. 29 to launch the school’s new outdoor classroom. Initial funding for the collaborative project came from U.S. Housing and Urban Development Community Development Block Grant which aims to address post-pandemic impacts on students — something especially important in a school where the majority of the students are low-income and Black and Brown, the same populations disproportionately negatively impacted by COVID and its long-term effects.
Story
Personality: Stephan A. Hicks
Spotlight on founder of nonprofit My Brother’s Keeper of Greater Richmond
“Men are the greatest resource in our city. However, services focusing on men in Richmond are severely lacking. When it comes to helping men get on their feet, there is little offered.”
Story
Love Stories
The Free Press proudly presents its annual Valentine’s Day feature sharing the Love Stories of four Richmond area couples.
Story
Richmond deeply divided
Our desire to live closer to our families and a burgeoning restaurant scene brought my husband and I to Richmond only 14 months ago, despite a commute to Washington each day for work. We first moved into a Shockoe Slip apartment and then purchased our first home together in the Fan District.
Story
Mr. Sailor, Ms. Simms wed
C.J. Sailor was on the campaign trail with Republican gubernatorial candidate Ed Gillespie in 2017 when they made a campaign stop at Southern Kitchen restaurant. That’s when the statewide director of coalitions for the Gillespie campaign spied Chelsea Simms, who was working at the Shockoe Bottom restaurant owned by her mother that has since relocated to Jackson Ward. Mr. Sailor was lovestruck.
