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Gearing up for Sunday’s big game – Super Bowl LVI
In looking for Super Bowl storylines, a good start might be the quarterbacks, the Cincinnati Bengals’ Joe Burrow and the Los Angeles Rams’ Matthew Stafford.
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Love Stories 2022
The Richmond Free Press proudly presents its annual Valentine’s Day feature sharing the love stories of four Richmond area couples.
From blind date to years of wedded bliss...
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Advocates seek to save programs on Richmond schools budget chopping block
Fully fund computer-based learning. And maintain the current cadre of 21 family and community engagement ambassadors who are critical to keeping Spanish-speaking students engaged with Richmond Public Schools. That was the gist of the message that parents, teachers and other speakers passionately expressed to the Richmond School Board Monday night during a public hearing on the proposed budget that board members are now working to finalize.
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Confederate pedestals out
Grass and landscaping to soon replace dead soldiers
Richmond’s streets and parks will soon lose virtually all vestiges of the white-supremacist Confederate statues and monuments that once loomed so large.
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Richmond attorney Rhonda K. Harmon, who challenged Nationwide's redlining policies, has died
Rhonda Michelle King Harmon, a former attorney who helped overturn racist insurance policies that prevented Black homeowners in Richmond and elsewhere from gaining standard coverage for their property, has died.
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Southern Baptist Convention taps Willie McLaurin for top leadership role
Tennessee Pastor Willie McLaurin has been named interim president and CEO of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee, becoming the first African-American to lead one of the denomination’s ministry entities in its more than 175-year history.
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Then and Now: Richmond area's Super Bowl heroes
Cincinnati Bengals offensive right guard Quinton Spain - No. 67 - will become the latest local athlete to perform on football’s grandest stage.
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Metro Richmond area will host numerous events for Black History Month
Black History Month is an annual celebration of achievements by African-Americans and a time for recognizing their central role in U.S. history. The event grew out of “Negro History Week,” the brainchild of noted historian Dr. Carter G. Woodson and other prominent African-Americans.
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Suicide takes Miss USA 2019
Cheslie Kryst, who won the 2019 Miss USA pageant and worked as a correspondent for the entertainment news television show “Extra,” reportedly committed suicide Jan. 30.
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From early on, Childs seen as 'destined for further things'
When she hired Michelle Childs to practice employment law in the early 1990s right out of school, Vickie Eslinger said she knew there was something different about the freshly minted South Carolina attorney.
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White House responds to HBCU bomb threats; Black leaders decry ‘domestic terrorism’
Black leaders are calling the recent series of bomb threats against several Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) campuses “terrorism.” There have been threats to more than a dozen HBCUs so far this month, many of which occurred only in the past two days. The matter is so alarming that civil rights lawyer and attorney for the family of Ahmaud Arbery, Lee Merritt, who also is a graduate of Morehouse College, said that he believes the Biden administration should form a task force to get to the bottom of the threats and identify the source of the ongoing threats. As the news of the HBCU bomb threats over the past two days was making headlines, in the White House brief- ing on Tuesday, Feb. 1, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki reporters, “We take these threats incredibly seriously. Our Homeland Security adviser is in close touch with law enforcement authorities at a federal and local level, and we are assessing what we think the origin, the reasoning, the motivation behind it is.” The Biden administration affirmed its continued support for HBCUs in this moment that is being characterized by leaders as domestic terrorism. “We are absolutely behind these HBCUs. We want to make it very clear that we take these threats seriously and we deeply value their contributions. But it’s important for law enforcement authorities and others to make an assessment before we make any determinations about next steps,” said the presidential spokesperson. On the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue, the Congressional Black Caucus plans to engage with the Department of Justice on actions to be taken to address the threat of danger against HBCUs. Meanwhile, the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, To- bacco and Firearms and Explosives (ATF) are investigating the matter. “ATF is aware of bomb threats received by some Historically Black Colleges and Universities. We take all potential threats seriously and we regularly work with our law enforcement partners to determine the threat credibility,” ATF said in a statement. “This is a fluid situation with ongoing investigations, and we can’t comment on the specifics at this time.” White House Press Secretary Psaki said, “I would not call it irony, but I would say that it is scary. It is horrifying. It is terrible that these students, these faculty, these institutions are feeling under threat.” She added, “We don’t know more details at this point in time, and I don’t want to get ahead of law enforcement authorities ... but certainly, given the history you referenced, you know, this is something we’re very mindful of, and that is why we’re so focused on providing regular updates and seeing what our law enforcement team assesses.”
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Without federal, state dollars, city residents may pay higher sewer bills
Richmond residents could potentially see their bill for sending wastewater to the city’s treatment plant skyrocket to $170 a month or more in the coming years, officials with the city’s Department of Public Utilities are warning.
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Richmond police report increase in gun violence, homicides in 2021
Richmond saw an uptick in homicides last year, much of it attributable to young people, according to a recent Richmond Police Department report.
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Information is knowledge, near and far
Virginia State University is one of six Black universities that will participate in a $2.5 million research and design project to build a framework for digital learning at HBCUs.
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Black referee to lead Super Bowl
African-American Ronald “Ron” Torbert will be the lead referee — wearing the white cap — for the Feb. 13 Super Bowl in Inglewood, Calif.
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CIAA rivals face off this Saturday at Barco-Stevens Hall
One team is battling for first place while the other is simply scrapping to get out of the cellar.
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Ernie Francis gears up for St. Petersburg race
African-Americans are as rare on the IndyCar circuit as snowmobiles in Haiti, but that doesn’t bother Ernie Francis Jr., the latest contender for IndyCar honors.
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Janet Jackon doc, despite criticism, a hit for Lifetime
Janet Jackson’s four-part documentary on Lifetime was the network’s most-watched non-fiction show since “Surviving R. Kelly” three years ago, and viewership is continuing to grow.