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How adults can avoid the summer slide
Most people are familiar with the summer slide, a term researchers use to describe what happens when grade-school students lose significant knowledge in reading and math over the summer break.
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Community cleanup celebrates Maggie Walker’s birthday
Liza Walker Mickens, the great-great-granddaughter of Maggie Lena Walker, left center, walks with other volunteers during a National Park Service and City of Richmond cleanup project on July 16 in honor of Mrs. Walker’s 158th birthday, which was on July 15.
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Internet privacy, like abortion rights, under siege, by Clarence Page
Having witnessed how much the world seemed to change after the Roe v. Wade decision legalized abortion nationwide, it has been stunning—although not too surprising—to see how much the world has tried to change back.
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Absurdities rooted in right-wing, by Faye Williams
Years ago, I stated that the damage of a Donald Trump presidency wouldn’t be in his initial term(s), but in the future evil that he would sanction. It now appears that “crazies,” especially in the political arena, are crawling from under rocks throughout the nation.
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Medical examiner: Jayland Walker was shot dozens of times
Jayland Walker, the 25-year-old Black man who died last month at the hands of police in Akron, Ohio, was shot dozens of times on June 27, with 26 bullets recovered from his body, according to a preliminary autopsy report released July 15.
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Personality: Reginald E. Gordon
Spotlight on Richmond Memorial Health Foundation board chairman
Inside and outside the walls of City Hall, Reginald E. (for Equilla) Gordon is working to build a more equitable, racially inclusive Richmond.
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Construction leader Langston R. Davis Sr. dies
Langston Randolph Davis Sr., president and chief executive officer of Richmond-based Davis Brothers Construction Co. Inc., has died.
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3 for 3
Americans sweep top 3 places at the World championships for 3rd time
Men wearing the red, white and blue have harvested gold, silver and bronze at the World Athletics Championships.
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Q&A: Jordan Peele on the dreams and nightmares of ‘Nope’
There’s little in contemporary movies quite like the arrival of a new Jordan Peele film. They tend to descend ominously and mysteriously, a little like an unknown object from above that casts an expanding, darkening shadow the closer it comes.
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NPS grant to help preserve historic elementary school
'This will allow us to dream ... it will allow restoration and interpretation’
A Cumberland County school that was part of a vibrant African-American community for nearly 50 years is getting help from the National Park Service to preserve its location.
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RPS approves stipends and hiring bonuses to attract new teachers
Richmond Public Schools is taking big steps to find new teachers for the upcoming school year.
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Cityscape
Slices of life and scenes in Richmond
Real estate developer Capital City Partners, LLC purchased the City’s 71-year-old former Public Safety Building at 500 N. 10th St., 9th Street entrance shown above, for $3.5 million in 2021. Capital City officials said the building would be demolished on the 3-acre property to make room for a $325 million, 500,000-square-foot tower development that will be anchored by VCU Health.
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Crusade for Voters supports November referendum for casino revenue use
If a casino is ever built in Richmond, should all the tax dollars generated from the gambling center go to modernizing Richmond’s decrepit school buildings?
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City’s plan leaves fewer people with shelter this winter
City Hall is ending its decades-old effort to prevent homeless people from freezing to death when temperatures plunge.
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No longer spinning their wheels
Richmond nonprofit uses circles to break cycles of poverty
For millions of Americans, living at or near the federal poverty line means barely getting by is a constant struggle. Census Bureau estimates show more than 20 percent of Richmond’s residents are living in poverty — a figure nearly 50 percent higher than the national average. Many of these residents work, and many feel as though they’ll never get ahead. Such was the case for Sherrell Thompson, 43, a resident of Churc Hill and Richmond native. Two years ago, the single mother and grandmother worked as a certified community health Wworker for Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority. Everyday she helped others in her job, but she also knew she needed help herself. “I really felt stuck where I was financially and I just didn’t know what steps to take next,” Ms. Thompson said by phone recently. One day, she took a deeper look at Circles RVA — a lo- cal organization she’d referred clients looking to better their financial circumstances to before. Ms. Thompson decided to put in her own application and was accepted to the program in August 2020. In that same cohort was Barbara Yates, 67, a mother, grand- mother and great-grandmother, who was born in Baltimore but moved to Richmond as a child. Both were drawn by Circles RVA’s vision “that everyone has enough money, meaning and friends to thrive.” In a recent phone interview, Circles RVA co-president Valena Dixon and coach Debbie Williams highlighted how the organiza- tion works alongside program participants — known as leaders — to help them realize that vision of financial stability, purpose and support in their lives. “Allies and volunteers create a circle of support around lead- ers and intentionally create relationships,” Ms. Dixon explained. “These relationships expand their networks and introduce them to resources that can reduce the barriers that hinder their rising out of poverty.” “You’re building communities by building intentional rela- tionships,” Ms. Williams added. “These relationships make all the difference and give leaders the support they need to move from surviving to thriving.” Circles RVA began with volunteers who were looking for ways to address Richmond’s poverty issue at the community level. It became a registered nonprofit in June 2017, modeled after Circles USA which sees circles, or the personal and professional networks each person has, as resources that can be shared. With Circles RVA, leaders undertake a 12-week educational program during which they are matched with allies and work to create SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time-bound) goals for themselves. Over the next 18 months, leaders and allies meet weekly to ensure that leaders continue to progress toward their goals. As Ms. Dixon puts is, “Plan the work, work the plan.” And plans are working. Circles RVA graduated its fourth cohort in June, and its latest newsletter highlights the achievements of its 15 leaders who so far have completed the program. Many show average increases of about $1,200 in monthly income and $2,000 in total assets. Ms. Thompson and Mrs. Yates graduated in the June 2022 cohort and have seen the benefits. With her allies’ help, Miss Thompson revamped her résumé and secured a new, higher paying job with her employer as a resident services coordinator. She has used the extra income to reduce her debt and boost her credit score by more than 100 points. “I never thought I’d be able to do that,” Ms. Thompson said. “Circles RVA helped me so much. I was so happy I just cried through my whole graduation.” Learning to better manage her budget also helped Mrs. Yates. “Before I was an Amazon addict, but not anymore,” Mrs. Yates said, noting that she frequently made purchases from the online retailer. “Writing (down) where all of (my) money was going made it easy to see where you could bring your expenses down.” Mrs. Yates has started saving some of what she used to spend. She has a “rainy day fund” and is continuing to save toward another goal — travel. “I really enjoyed the program. You are constantly learning something every week,” Mrs. Yates said. “My allies were very supportive and encouraging. Whenever I was struggling, they helped me think like that little train, ‘I think I can. I think I can.’” Mrs. Yates and Ms. Thompson plan to stay connected with the friends they made through Circles RVA. Ms. Thompson even wants to apply to rejoin the program — this time as an ally. “I have benefitted so much that I need to pass that on.” To learn more about Circles RVA and its next cohort of lead- ers, visit https://circlesrva.org/
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VSU graduate students offered free tuition in exchange for teaching in local schools
Virginia State University will offer a new grant-funded program to offer free tuition to graduate students who become full-time substitute teachers in the Richmond and Petersburg school systems.
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NIH awards $3M to VCU to develop researchers in women’s health
The Office of Research on Women’s Health at the National Institutes of Health has awarded a $3.2 million grant to Vir- ginia Commonwealth University Institute for Women’s Health. The grant supports VCU’s junior faculty who will develop as researchers in women’s health.
