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60th Anniversary
Members of the Richmond 34 remember their historic lunch counter protest in Downtown
On Feb. 22, 1960, more than 200 Virginia Union University students protested the whites- only policy at the restaurant and lunch counter at Thalhimers department store in Downtown, challenging its segregationist dining policy in solidarity with similar student efforts taking place across the country.
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Students select their meals during lunch break in the cafeteria on Dec. 12, 2022, at an elementary school in Scottsdale, Ariz. A bill that would …
Published on January 25, 2024
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Henrico CARES aims to strengthen youth mental health services
Henrico County and Henrico County Public Schools (HCPS) are implementing the Henrico CARES plan with the goal to increase availability of mental health services in schools and to expand efforts of prevention, support, and early and intensive intervention for youth mental health, substance abuse and violence.
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Episcopal Diocese of Maryland distributes $175,000 in reparations grants
The Episcopal Diocese of Maryland has made an inaugural grant distribution of $175,000 after church members overwhelmingly approved a reparations fund a year and a half ago.
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Members of the Richmond 34, from left, Raymond B. Randolph Jr., Elizabeth Johnson Rice, Wendell T. Foster and Dr. Leroy M. Bray Jr., talk about …
Published on February 28, 2020
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Dance club sold to VCU for $3.5M
For years, Nathaniel Dance III battled Virginia Commonwealth University to keep the popular dance club he established at 534 N. Harrison St.
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School day care?
Empty public school buildings may be central to city task force plan to help parents with day care as they return to work
Sharonda Robinson hoped against hope that Richmond Public Schools would reopen this fall so her sons, ages 6 and 8, could be in school taking classes while she went to work.
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Painful testimony from 72-year-old survivor of S.C. church massacre
A 72-year-old retired nurse recounted for jurors on Wednesday how she cowered under a table while Dylann Roof killed nine of her fellow worshippers at a historic black church but spared her so she could tell the story of what he had done.
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Megapastor tries to defend himself after Hurricane Harvey
Pastor Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church in Houston is helping Texans cope in the wake of Hurricane Harvey — and trying to counter a flood of comments on social media accusing the church of turning its back on storm victims. The church took in about 400 people from the overflow at Houston’s George R. Brown Convention Center, a Red Cross shelter, church spokesman Don Iloff said last week.
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Eye opening
There is no question that the Confederate battle flag stands for white supremacy, intolerance and oppression. The Stars and Bars, as the flag is known, was birthed in the days when Virginia and other Southern states separated from the United States and created a country built on the perpetual right to buy and sell human beings into slavery. Our bloody Civil War secured our union and abolished human bondage while uplifting millions of people to the rights of citizenship. The Confederate flag then was reborn as the symbol of the Ku Klux Klan and other hate groups whose missions are to ensure black people forever submit to third class status.
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GRTC’s planned Bus Rapid Transit already $11.5M over projection
Richmond’s Bus Rapid Transit system is going to cost an additional $11.5 million to develop. But the state — and not Richmond — will pick up the extra expense, GRTC spokeswoman Carrie Rose Pace disclosed Tuesday. “Under the project agreement, the Commonwealth of Virginia will cover any costs that exceed the estimated project budget,” she stated in an email to the Free Press.
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Richmonders should help police stop violence
It seems that people are becoming numb to all of these killings in Richmond.
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Charlottesville Vice Mayor Wes Bellamy speaks to the crowd during a candlelight gathering May 14 to counter a demonstration by white supremacists carrying torches and …
Published on July 7, 2017
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Chef Jean-Marc Tachet of Lyon, France, slices goose liver Sunday as students in Richmond Public Schools’ culinary program watch closely. The students are, from left, …
Published on March 13, 2020
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City offers amnesty for past-due parking ticket penalties
Good news for people with old, unpaid Richmond parking tickets: City Hall will waive the penalties if the tickets are paid by Monday, Sept. 12.
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Small nonprofit makes big impact on lives, health of people
Josselyn Aguirre-Cabrera went to see a doctor about her nagging headaches and learned she had diabetes.
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Mayor’s $836M proposed budget includes major pay hikes for public safety workers
Soaring property values and a continuing boom in new development in Richmond have given City Hall the money to propose major pay increases for police officers, firefighters and other city employees.
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No fear of KKK
Charlottesville leaders, including clergy and NAACP, plan positive activities for Saturday in response to Klan protest
Charlottesville residents refuse to buckle under fear in the face of a Ku Klux Klan rally planned for Saturday in a public park.
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Group proposes $350M development to replace city's old Public Safety Building
Richmond’s old Public Safety Building on 9th Street near City Hall would be replaced by a $350 million office development under a plan that has been submitted to the city administration.
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Buyer beware
Consumers may flip wig over falsely labeled hair
Unsuspecting women are being ripped off when it comes to buying wigs. They are being induced to pay higher prices for cheaper wigs that are falsely labeled as being a more expensive product. So says Mary J. Harris, a retired Richmond factory worker.
