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Virginia Museum of History & Culture reopens May 14 after $30M renovation
The Virginia Museum of History & Culture will reopen this weekend after a two-year, $30 million renovation with a celebration featuring new exhibits, rich family stories, entertainment, activities and food trucks.
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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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Use bank fines to help communities they hurt
As Congresswoman Maxine Waters of California convened a recent House Financial Services Committee hearing featuring the CEOs of Wall Street’s biggest banks, the financial watchdog group Better Markets released a stunning report on the banks’ criminal records: “Wall Street’s Six Biggest Bailed-Out Banks: Their RAP Sheets and Their Ongoing Crime Spree.”
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A clearer vision needed
Editorials
We are not convinced of the need or the benefits of the costly plan to replace the Richmond Coliseum and divert millions of tax dollars that ordinarily would go to the city’s general fund to pay for the project.
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A return to the regrettable past, by E. Faye Williams
Unquestionably, Maya Angelou’s most famous quote is: “If someone tells you who they are, believe them the first time.”
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Henry Kissinger’s complicated legacy draws admiration, scorn
The death of former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger drew both admiration and scorn last Thursday from political leaders around the world, highlighting the complicated legacy of Mr. Kissinger’s views about what it meant to serve America’s interests during the Cold War — and how the country should exert its influence.
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Convenience stores shut down Virginia Lottery sales in protest for skill games
Organizers say hundreds of stores participate
At Krunal Patel’s convenience store outside Richmond, a row of Queen of Virginia skill games has been powered off and turned around against a wall.
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Protesters call for tougher gun laws; blame Trump for deaths of 31 in latest mass shootings
Protesters greeted President Trump’s arrival in Dayton, Ohio, on Wednesday, blaming his incendiary rhetoric for inflaming political and racial tensions in the country, as he visited survivors of last weekend’s mass shootings and saluted first responders.
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Fascination with Teslas prompt second-grader with autism to write book
“Uziah Wants a Tesla.” That is the title and focus of the new book by 8-year-old author Uziah Smith-Bashir of Henrico.
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Shock, grief and mourning for 3 Georgia-based U.S. soldiers killed in Middle East drone strike
Described by their parents as bubbly and constantly laughing, Spc. Kennedy Sanders and Spc. Breonna Moffett became close friends soon after enlisting in the Army Reserve five years ago. Sgt. William Jerome Rivers served a tour in Iraq before joining the same company of Army engineers.
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Roadblock: Mayor’s $1.4B Coliseum plan hits a financing snag
The plan to replace the Richmond Coliseum with a new arena in Downtown appears to be running afoul of the Virginia Public Finance Act.
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RPS data suggests student improvement despite SOL scores
Richmond Public Schools student Standard of Learning (SOL) scores are among the lowest in the state of Virginia this year.
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School Board demands third-party investigation into June 6 shooting
Richmond Public School leaders have demanded a third-party investigation into the events and RPS actions leading up to the mass shooting in Monroe Park following the Huguenot High School graduation ceremony on June 6 that led to the deaths of graduate Shawn Jackson and his stepfather, Renzo Smith.
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Exoneration in Malcolm X’s death no surprise, by A. Peter Bailey
Serious Malcolmites, including myself, were neither surprised nor shocked by the exonerations last week of Muhammad Abdul Aziz, known in 1965 as Norman 3X Butler, and Khalil Islam, known as Thomas 15X Johnson, as assassins of Brother Malcolm X on Feb. 21, 1965.
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RVA Bandits compete for football championships this weekend
Darryl H. Johnston fondly remembers playing youth football growing up in Richmond. Frustrated that the city’s parks and recreation department was no longer fielding a team at the Broad Rock Sports Complex where he played as a child, the 32-year-old Atlantic City, N.J., native started a program in August.
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Ben Jealous to run for gov. in Md.
Former national NAACP President Benjamin Todd Jealous is launching a political career. Perhaps recently best known as a surrogate for Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, Mr. Jealous confirmed this week that he is running for governor of Maryland. He cited his long record of civil rights activism and the diversity of the state of Maryland as being in his favor.
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No fear of shrill conservatives
The shrill conservative Ann Coulter has made headlines because the University of California, Berkeley, wouldn’t let her speak at the end of April. She was invited by college Republicans, but her appearance threatened to incite violence as activists on the left and on the right prepared to either protest or support her appearance.
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Pro-Confederate legislators make run to save symbols
Veto that bill, governor. That’s the cry from members of the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus after the Republican-dominated General Assembly approved a bill that would bar localities from removing Confederate hate symbols from public property. “I voted against it, but now we can only hope that that the governor will use his veto pen,” said Delegate Jennifer L. McClellan.
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Gov. Northam speaks at VUU Community Leaders Breakfast
Gov. Ralph S. Northam addressed the 41st Annual Community Leaders Breakfast last Friday honoring the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with a message of valuing Virginia’s diversity and the collective responsibility of supporting each other as the state moves forward.
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Bad for grads
Richmond Public Schools’ 70.6% on-time graduation rate is lowest in Virginia
Richmond Public Schools had the lowest graduation rate in Virginia last June.
