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Personality: Virginia ‘Ginger’ Workman Stanley
Spotlight on Virginia Press Association’s retiring executive director
For 32 years, Ginger Stanley has been an advocate for Virginia’s newspapers, so much so that her name is practically synonymous with the Virginia Press Association. That’s the organization that promotes the common interests of its member newspapers.
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Multiple construction projects are underway at the Virginia War Memorial Carillon in Richmond. In 2016, Elizabeth L. O’Leary of the Carillon Civic Association described the …
Published on April 27, 2023
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VUU and MBL receive Sports Illustrated funds
Virginia Union University, Hampton University and the Metropolitan Business League are among several Virginia-based minority organizations to receive $175,000 from Sports Illustrated Sportsbook. The funds are part of an agreement with Virtual Entertainment Partners in exchange for a partnership and access into Virginia’s sports betting market. The following universities and organizations received:
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Alarm systems need permits in Richmond
Reminder: A city permit is required to have an alarm system that can automatically dial police.
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Social workers offer symposium on society issues
“Walk Into Your Season: Enhancing Knowledge & Cultural Awareness.” That’s the theme for a symposium presented by the Richmond Association of Black Social Workers.
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Richmond Association of Black Social Workers, VSU host symposium on trauma-informed care
Dr. Kobi Kambon, former president of the Association of Black Psychologists, will be the keynote speaker at a symposium Saturday, April 29, sponsored by the Richmond Association of Black Social Workers and the Virginia State University Department of Psychology.
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Bus trip to D.C. science festival April 16
A bus trip is being organized from Richmond to the 4th USA Science and Engineering Festival at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington this Saturday, April 16.
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Va. Christian Alliance hosts program on impact of technology
The Virginia Christian Alliance is sponsoring a seminar, “Digital Cocaine: A Journey Toward iBalance,” at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 9, at Bon Air Baptist Church, 2531 Buford Road.
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Golf classic July 27 to honor former VUU Coach Dave Robbins
The 8th Annual Golf Classic in Honor of Dave Robbins will be held Saturday, July 27, at the Birkdale Golf Club in Chesterfield County.
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Equal justice, even for Trump, by Clarence Page
Yusef Salaam, whom you may remember as one of the exonerated Central Park Five, had only one word to tweet to those who wanted to know his feelings about the indictment of Donald Trump: “Karma,” he offered. Karma? I’ve heard about it. Drawn from concepts of re- birth in Indian religions, I’ve been advised to think of kar- maasaformof cosmic justice: Good deeds and intent lead to good karma and happier re- births while bad karma may lead to times that are not so jolly. Mr. Salaam was one of five Black and Hispanic teenagers wrongfully imprisoned for the 1989 rape of a white woman in New York’s Central Park, a case that later was explored in a 2019 Netflix series “When They See Us” and a PBS documentary “The Central Park Five.” In 1989, before any of the five teens had been tried, Mr. Trump, then a major Manhat- tan real estate developer with a bottomless appetite for self- promotion, took out full-page newspaper ads calling for the death penalty to be reinstated in New York. Adding kerosene to public anger at the time, the ads were reported to have played a major role in securing a conviction. So did false confessions, it turned out, since no DNA linked them to the crime scene and their descriptions of the victim didn’t match. Mr. Salaam served nearly seven years in prison before he and the other wrongfully accused teens—Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Raymond Santana and Korey Wise—were Clarence Page exonerated in 2002. Serial rapist Matias Reyes, already in prison, confessed to the assault and DNA confirmed his admission. Ah, how the mighty have fallen. The presumption of inno- cence until proved guilty seemed almost nowhere to be seen in Mr. Trump’s world when the Central Park Five case raged across the headlines and boiled over into a national media frenzy. Yet, as Mr. Salaam mentions in his tweet, Mr. Trump—for whom “apologetic” is not part of his brand—never has apologized. Still, he seeks the presumption of innocence he has denied to others. So be it. Let’s see how well his innocence claims hold up. For now, Mr. Trump’s chants of “Lock her up” in his 2016 race against Hillary Clinton come to mind. Now that it is he who faces what has been reported to be more than 30 counts related to business fraud in a sealed indictment from a Manhattan grand jury, I wonder: Can chants of “Lock HIM up” be far behind? Still, the stress test to which the former president has put our crimi- nal justice system offers a valuable opportunity to view fairness in our system with new eyes. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, the ultraconservative Repub- lican from Georgia, suddenly has become a major advocate for inmates of the District of Columbia jail, now that their ranks were joined by detainees from the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol. Interesting, I said to myself. Since the alleged insurrectionists are mostly white and the D.C. jail’s traditional population is overwhelmingly Black, maybe now they can see how the other half lives. Unsurprisingly, they were shocked. The jail’s conditions, were so bad that 34 of them sug- gested in a letter to federal court last fall that they would rather be moved to Guantanamo Bay. Detainees, through their lawyers, raised concerns that included threats from guards, standing sewage, and skimpy food and water. A federal judge held top jail officials in contempt after they delayed prompt medi- cal care for a Capitol defendant in their custody. Things have gotten better, spurred partly by Rep. Greene and other congressional visitors. But the irony of how it took 40 or so Capitol rioters to get more attention and action than the jail’s roughly 1,400 total inmates is not lost, especially on the inmates of color. Rep. Greene, seldom known for understatement, visited the jail and likened the rioters inside to “prisoners of war,” implying that they were being punished for their politics. Actually they’re being held for a lot more than that. Don’t forget the physical assaults on Capitol Police with pepper spray, bear spray and riot shields, just for starters. Equal justice for all is a cherished ideal in the American system, a system they tried to disrupt. We must do all that we can to preserve that ideal, even for those who try to destroy it. The writer is a syndicated columnist and senior member of the Chicago Tribune edito- rial board.
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Tax time
Monday, May 17. That’s the deadline for Virginians to file their federal and state income taxes for the year 2020.
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TikTok sues to block law that could ban the platform
TikTok and its Chinese parent company are challenging a new American law that would ban the popular video-sharing app in the U.S. unless it’s sold to an approved buyer, saying it unfairly singles out the platform and is an unprecedented attack on free speech.
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Opportunity time
Richmond mayor’s race hit by 11th-hour surprises
The Richmond mayor’s race has been turned topsy-turvy as the days count down to Election Day next Tuesday, Nov. 8. As the apparent front-runner, Joe Morrissey, scrambles to contain a new sex scandal with fierce denials, one of his six rivals, City Councilman Jonathan T. Baliles, announced Wednesday he has ended his bid for the city’s top post. Trailing far behind in recent polls, Mr. Baliles issued a message to his supporters on his campaign website that he was dropping out.
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Stay at home
Gov. Northam issues order through June 10
Life during the continuing coronavirus pandemic is taking a fresh turn following Gov. Ralph S. Northam’s stepped-up effort to stem the spread of COVID-19 in the state. On Monday, Gov. Northam turned his request for people to stay at home into an order.
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Personality: Rosa A. Jiggetts
Spotlight on mission to proclaim ‘Be Kind Wednesdays’
Rosa Annie Jiggetts is always ready to help. Her idea of a perfect day is one in which she can do at least one good deed. For the past 30 years, the 65-year-old Richmond native has run the Helpline out of her Providence Park home on North Side, with the assistance of her sister, Lydia.
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Kamras gets overwhelming public support for 4-year contract
Richmond Public Schools parents and students, teachers and staff overwhelmingly voiced their support for Superintendent Jason Kamras’ contract to be renewed for four years.
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COVID-19 outbreak: Mayor, others quarantine
A rash of new COVID-19 cases, outbreaks and quarantines have emerged following the election, underlying the continuing threat of the virus locally, statewide and across the nation.
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Tough love
Task force recommends subpoena powers for police oversight board
A recommendation for creating a powerful new city office to police the police has been sent to Richmond City Council for review.
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Partisanship drives religious attitudes and not the other way around
Which comes first — religion or politics? On the one hand, political scientists have long held that people’s political choices are formed by their childhood faith, which, for the most part, sticks with them. On the other, 81 percent of white evangelicals voted for Donald Trump, a thrice-married adulterer who rarely attends church.
