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Kudos on Free Press coverage
Re “Nat Turner links black, white George Wythe High alumni,” March 2-4 edition: Thank you for including the Nat Turner article in your fine newspaper and sharing the story of Nat Turner’s descendants and what happened back in 1831 on Virginia soil.
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Bessie Jones, 86, political organizer
For more than 40 years, candidates for public office called on Bessie Mae Peyton Jones to seek her support. A fixture in the Randolph community with a long record of community service, Mrs. Jones was regarded as a key figure in organizing and mobilizing voters in the West End community.
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Personality: Floyd Lee Brown Jr.
Spotlight on the Black History Museum’s holiday tradition, Soul Santa
Nothing can stop Soul Santa, not even COVID-19.
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Ex-prosecutor charged in Ahmaud Arbery case booked at jail
The former prosecutor charged with misconduct for her handling of the Ahmaud Arbery case was booked at a Georgia jail on Wednesday and released.
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Lynch pawn in GOP game
Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell said that a vote will finally come April 23 on Attorney General-nominee Loretta Lynch. It probably will happen this time.
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Drive-in homecoming worship brings church members together
For the past 27 Sundays, the Moore Street Missionary Baptist Church congregation has held worship service over Zoom and Bible study via conference calls.
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RPS threatens to close 5 schools
“It’s ridiculous.” That was the response Wednesday from Jakela Cannon, the mother of a John B. Cary Elementary School kindergarten student in the West End, to a cost-cutting plan introduced this week by the Richmond Public Schools administration that seeks to close Cary, three other elementary schools and Armstrong High School. The proposal would move those students to other existing schools in the district and consolidate three unidentified alternative schools into one.
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City Council starts process to rename Lee Bridge and other Confederate memorials
Legal tangles continue to block removal of state-owned statues honoring Confederate Robert E. Lee on Monument Avenue and in the State Capitol.
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VUU to take on VSU Saturday at Barco-Stevens Hall
Virginia Union University suffered a 88-73 basketball knockout on Jan. 19 in its last meeting with Virginia State University.
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Tina Turner, unstoppable superstar whose hits included ‘What’s Love Got to Do With It,’ dead at 83
Tina Turner, the singer and stage performer who teamed with husband Ike Turner for a dynamic run of hit records and live shows in the 1960s and ’70s and survived her horrifying marriage to triumph in middle age with the chart-topping “What’s Love Got to Do With It,” has died at 83.
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RPS offers plan to boost student literacy
Nearly half of all Richmond students cannot read proficiently when they enter high school, leading to high dropout rates and a host of other ills, Richmond Public Schools acknowledges.
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Personality: Alexander L. Taylor Jr.
Spotlight on Military Retirees Club fundraising chair
In 2022, retired Army Col. Alexander L. Taylor Jr. committed himself to a different kind of military service. A trial attorney, Mr. Taylor joined Richmond’s Military Retirees Club during its 50th anniversary celebration in June.
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Personality: Taylor R. Scott
Spotlight on founder of RVA Community Fridge
For the last four months, Taylor RaShon Scott has been working to help meet the Richmond community’s need for food during the pandemic.
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All is forgiven? by Charlene Crowell
When the Biden Administration announced its latest initiative to reduce the nation’s unsustainable trillion dollar student debt, both borrowers and advocates rejoiced. In the coming weeks an estimated 804,000 student loan borrowers will together receive $39 billion in federal loan debt cancellations.
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Tenants rally against poor maintenance
‘Housing is a human right! That is why we stand and fight’
Patrick Saddon is supposed to have central air conditioning in his Chamberlayne Avenue apartment. But for the past two years, Mr. Saddon said his air conditioning unit hasn’t worked. He said that he has received visits from maintenance staff, but nothing changes.
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‘The school system cannot budget morality’
During my 12 years of basic education under segregated schools, churches, communities and city, the focus was on academics and the “it takes a village to raise a child” concept.
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Student loan forgiveness is a drop in the bucket, by Julianne Malveaux
President Biden made a campaign promise to alleviate some student loan debt, and on Aug. 24, he honored his commitment.
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Under the microscope
An experiment to fight pandemic-era learning loss launches in Richmond
After intense opposition and skepticism, two elementary schools opened 20 days early to help students make up for what they missed during the time of remote learning. The first question: Would kids show up in the middle of summer for extra schooling?
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James Hickman, retired city homicide detective, dies at 68
James E. Hickman Sr., a retired Richmond Police detective who later worked with the Richmond Public Schools Department of Safety and Security, was remembered as a kindhearted man who cared about the students and crime victims whose lives he touched.
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Super Bowl LV will be a match between old and new QB stars
The Greatest of All Time vs. the next Greatest of All Time — Tom Brady vs. Patrick Mahomes.
