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Report finds profound pandemic impact on Virginia education
Virginia’s teacher workforce is smaller, unhappier and less qualified than before the COVID-19 pandemic, Virginia’s nonpartisan legislative watchdog agency stated in a report Monday that urged the state to boost funding to address the issue.
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City school officials: Test scores to get worse before they get better
A Richmond Public Schools official warned student scores on state Standards of Learning tests are headed for further decline. The dire prediction from Valenta Wade, RPS manager of testing and data, sent members of the Richmond School Board into a tailspin at Monday night’s meeting at City Hall, with some members expressing concern about increased state intervention.
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New review of Marcus-David Peters case finds shooting justified
Once again, Richmond Police Officer Michael Nyantakyi has been cleared in the May 2018 fatal shooting of 24-year-old teacher Marcus-David Peters during what has been described as a mental crisis, although Mr. Peters’ family continues to describe Mr. Peters’ death as an unpunished murder.
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State may force city to replace voting machines
Richmond, Henrico County and 27 other localities might be forced to immediately buy new voting machines for use in upcoming elections. The reason: The state Board of Elections is considering banning the wireless touch-screen machines the city and the other localities successfully have used for 10 years.
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Automatic expungements can help remove barriers by Mayor Levar M. Stoney
Unjust and racist policies continuously serve as a barrier to progress for our Black and brown communities, creating a stifling environment for socioeconomic mobility that makes it less and less likely for each generation to be better off than the last.
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Class action suit filed against BB&T for stop payment request violation
When Ronnie and Christine Gilliam told BB&T bank they were revoking the right of a payday lender to take electronic payments from their checking account, they allege the bank ignored the request.
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Richmond area resident wins national publishing competition
Freelance writer Robin Farmer is set to release her first book, “Angel Dressed in Black,” in 2021 after winning a nationwide indie publishing contest.
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Walmart, Target quit Thanksgiving shopping cold turkey; Black Friday still looms in the air
Forget about rushing out this year on Thanksgiving Day to get a jump on Christmas shopping. Target is joining Walmart in closing its stores Thanksgiving Day, ending a decade-long tradition of jumpstarting Black Friday door buster sales.
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Thanksgiving food, fellowship at area events
Thanksgiving is a time for family, friends and fellowship. But it also can be a stressful and lonely time for others.
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The battle for parental rights and government oversight remains alive
Huguenot High School’s library functions as a type of escape from the pressures of student life, a place where students can come and “chill out,” as librarian Kevin Murray puts it. He doesn’t give out grades or assign homework, so it makes sense why so many students like spending their time there, a serene space away from the bustling halls of high school.
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Published on April 13, 2017
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Families of homicide victims gather online for 30th annual remembrance ceremony
Members of the Richmond community gathered online last week to remember homicide victims and their survivors at the Richmond Coalition Against Violence’s 30th Annual Holiday Memorial Program.
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Brother Biden, please keep another promise or two, by Julianne Malveaux
I do this thing in my head with President Biden. When he gets on my nerves, I often call him President. When I want something from him or want to thank him for something, I call him Brother Biden.
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Lady Panthers’ Brittany Jackson making her mark
Brittany Jackson has not only inherited Kiana Johnson’s jersey number — No. 3 — but also her role as dominating guard at Virginia Union University.
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‘Reading Riders’ starts summer routes
In 2015, Reading Riders, Richmond Public Schools’ mobile library program promoting literacy among youngsters in kindergarten through fifth grade, started with a bus full of books, five scheduled stops in students’ Richmond neighborhoods and about 10 to 15 teacher volunteers at Oak Grove-Bellemeade Elementary School.
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Lochte loses sponsors after Olympic embarrassment
U.S. swimmer Ryan Lochte lost the last of his four major sponsors, Japanese mattress maker Airweave, days after he admitted to exaggerating his story about being robbed at gunpoint in Rio during the Olympics. The incident embarrassed the host city, angered the local police and government and dominated news coverage of South America’s first Olympics, leading the U.S. Olympic Committee to issue an apology.
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’Black Panther’ director mistaken for bank robber in Atlanta
Movie director Ryan Coogler was briefly handcuffed by Atlanta police after a bank teller mistook him for a robber when he passed her a note while trying to withdraw a large amount of cash from his account, police said.
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Published on March 8, 2019
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Governor: Texas gunman said he was going to ‘shoot up school’
The gunman who massacred 19 children and two teachers at an elementary school in Texas warned in online messages sent minutes before the attack that he had shot his grandmother and was going to shoot up a school, the governor said Wednesday.