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Fight for $15
Low-wage workers bring message, movement
Laura Clark is a home care worker, yet she has no income. The 53-year-old Caroline County resident cares for her 83-year-old mother, who suffers from dementia and COPD, but doesn’t qualify to receive pay as a family caregiver because her mother has life insurance. She said her daily struggle to keep things going in her own household makes her understand the plight of others working for minimum wage — $7.25 an hour.
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School Board moves on plan for 4 new schools
The Richmond School Board has started the process to replace four aging school buildings, three in South Side and one in Church Hill.
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Black people and COVID-19, by Sa’ad El-Amin
As the United States is trying to reopen after a nearly total shutdown caused by COVID-19, one of the major questions is whether it is too early to re- open and, by doing so, whether there will be a second round of infections and deaths.
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Local chef-caterer turns empty church kitchen into a busy business
On weekdays, the kitchen at Faith Community Baptist Church in Richmond’s East End is a beehive of activity six hours a day.
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Questions raised as council shifts money to help departments get through June 30
Richmond Sheriff Antionette V. Irving has gained the $2.13 million she needs this month to issue paychecks every two weeks to her deputies.
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Sons and Daughters of Ham Cemetery rededication ceremony this week
The Sons and Daughters of Ham Cemetery, a historic Black cemetery that neighbors the University of Richmond and the city’s Bandy Field Nature Park, will be rededicated on Thursday, July 28, it has been announced.
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Chauvin violated policy, training and ethics in pinning George Floyd, chief says
Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo joined in condemning the actions of Derek Chauvin during the second week of the trial of the former officer charged with murdering George Floyd while he was in custody.
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State grant helps keep GRTC rides free
A new $8 million state grant could help GRTC keep fares at no cost to riders for at least another three years.
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Grant funds to benefit babies, ex-inmates and low-wealth families
City Hall is planning to provide $115,000 to help low-income families gain baby supplies under ordinances that City Council is scheduled to approve next Monday, Jan. 23.
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Youngkin announces affordable housing loans
The state will lend more than $18 million to create 10 affordable, income-restricted housing developments in the Richmond area, Gov. Glenn A. Youngkin has announced.
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Free Press photographer honored with ‘Acts of Kindness’ award
“It’s not what you have, it’s what you give. And I have been blessed by doing that.” Rudolph “Rudy” Powell, a Richmond resident and part-time Free Press photographer, lives by that credo.
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State ABC seeking new headquarters, warehouse space
The state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control is beginning its hunt for a new headquarters and warehouse site to replace its current space in North Side.
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Thomas W. Kenney, 93, dies; former owner of Spring Lake course
Thomas Waymond Kenney worked as a meat cutter and janitor most of his life, but ended up a millionaire through his love of golf.
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City Council approves Larus Park water deal
Richmond City Council this week lifted an 18-year-old ban on development in a 106-acre city park in South Side to enable the city Department of Public Utilities to sell more water to Chesterfield County.
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Stallings family gets building permit for St. Luke project
It took eight months, but Wanda Stallings and her development team now have a city building permit to begin the renovation of the historic St. Luke Building in Gilpin Court.
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Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs to buy NFL team?
Could the “emperor of hip-hop” be preparing to inject some color into the whites-only ranks of NFL football team owners?
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A free press
Editorials
The Richmond Free Press joins publications across the nation this week in observing the 79th Annual National Newspaper Week.
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Dick Gregory: What is seen and unseen
The celebration of the life of Dick Gregory on Sept. 16 at the City of Praise Family Ministries in Landover, Md., was more than seven hours of eclectic diversity, from a serenade by Native Americans to a musical tribute by Ayanna Gregory, Mr. Gregory’s daughter, and Stevie Wonder, to speakers MSNBC’s Lawrence O’ Donnell and Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser, to the fiery Rep. Maxine Waters, who vowed to help impeach that “thing” in the White House.
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Virginia’s pandemic benefit program to issue school meals to limited households
Virginia students who were absent from school from September to October last year due to COVID-19 can now receive free school meals.
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Who pays price for death penalty?, by David P. Baugh
This week finds the Commonwealth of Virginia on the verge of eliminating the death penalty.