All results / Stories / Free Press wire reports
It’s not over yet
Just days after the U.S. Senate acquits former President Trump, Congressman Bennie Thompson of Mississippi files a lawsuit to hold him responsible for inciting insurrection at the U.S. Capitol
One thing is for certain, there was no surprise.
Oklahoma deputy charged with manslaughter
A white reserve sheriff’s deputy in Oklahoma was charged with manslaughter Monday in the death of a black man who he fatally shot as he lay on the ground. Tulsa County, Okla., prosecutors filed a second-degree manslaughter charge against 73-year-old Robert Bates, a reserve deputy with the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office.
Churches, nonprofits to be hit with taxes under new federal code
Republicans have quietly imposed a new, but limited tax on churches, synagogues and other nonprofits, a little-noticed and surprising change that could cost some groups tens of thousands of dollars.
Smollett back performing; talks about attack
“Empire” actor Jussie Smollett was blunt, emotional and defiantly determined last Saturday night at a Southern California concert some urged him not to play, telling the crowd before singing a note that he had to go on with the show because he couldn’t let his attackers win.
Herring breaks silence on blackface; GOP offers reward for evidence
The Republican Party of Virginia is offering a $1,000 reward for photographic evidence of Virginia Attorney General Mark R. Herring in blackface.
Tears flow as Tyler Perry pays off layaway bills for 1,500 people in Atlanta
Entertainment mogul Tyler Perry knows how to wish his Atlanta neighbors a Merry Christmas — the filmmaker paid off all the customers’ items held on layaway at two local Walmart stores.
GOP gubernatorial candidates meet in first debate
Four out of the seven Republicans running for governor in Virginia met Sunday in their first debate, covering topics ranging from education to law enforcement to the economy, with each promising to turn back liberal Democratic policies and end a GOP losing streak.
$140M Deal makes Russell Wilson highest paid in NFL
The Richmond native posted a video on social media early Tuesday saying, “Seattle, we got a deal,” shortly after agreeing to a $140 million, four-year extension with the Seahawks, his agent Mark Rodgers told The Associated Press. Wilson’s new deal runs through the 2023 season and includes a $65 million signing bonus, a no-trade clause and $107 million in guaranteed money.
Rapper DMX remains on life support
Supporters and family of the rapper DMX chanted his name and offered prayers Monday outside the New York hospital where he remains on life support.
Matthew Shepard’s ashes interred in Washington
After 20 years without a permanent resting place, the remains of Matthew Shepard, a 21-year-old college student whose brutal murder in 1998 in Wyoming has come to symbolize the plight of the LGBTQ community in America, were interred at the Washington National Cathedral.
Paradox of history: Jamestown commemoration
As Trump speaks at Jamestown commemoration for 400th anniversary of representative government, Va. Legislative Black Caucus boycotts with commemoration of the enslaved
President Trump marked the 400th anni- versary of American democracy Tuesday, but Virginia’s African-American lawmakers boycotted his celebration of the initial experiment in self-government in this country to protest his continued disparagement of a veteran black congressman and the majority-black Baltimore district he represents.
IRS claims Prince’s estate undervalued by 50 percent
The ongoing controversy over the money left behind by Prince when he died without a will is heating up again after Internal Revenue Service calculations showed that executors of the rock star’s estate undervalued it by 50 percent, or about $80 million.
Oklahoma begins Tulsa race massacre centennial remembrance
Oklahoma began a centennial remembrance Jan. 1 of a once- thriving African-American neighborhood in Tulsa decimated by deadly white violence that has received growing recognition during America’s reckoning over police brutality and racial violence.
Black lives celebrated and mourned at emotional BET Awards
Black power, suffering and the fight for justice took center stage at the BET Awards on Sunday, the first Black celebrity event since recent nationwide mass protests broke out over systemic racism.
VCU’s LeGrande to assume Regina H. Boone/Richmond Free Press HBCU presidential role
When Ruth J. Simmons steps down as president of Prairie View A&M University in Texas, she will pass the baton to another Black woman, Tomikia P. LeGrande, vice president for strategy, enrollment management and student success at Virginia Commonwealth University.
FBI finds no hate crime in old noose in Bubba Wallace’s NASCAR garage
NASCAR went to Talladega Superspeedway last weekend on heightened alert after Bubba Wallace, its only Black driver, took on an active role in a push for racial equality.
Former First Lady Barbara Bush dies
A private funeral for former First Lady Barbara Bush, the only American woman to see her husband and son both sworn in as president, will be held on Saturday, April 21, at a Houston church where her family has been members since the 1950s, officials said.
Trump seeks to roll back federal Fair Housing provision
The Trump administration is working to dilute the federal Fair Housing Act in an effort to make it more difficult to bring housing discrimination lawsuits, according to housing advocates.
Grammy Award winner Bill Withers dies at 81
Bill Withers, who wrote and sang a string of soulful songs in the 1970s that have stood the test of time, including “Ain’t No Sunshine,” “Lean on Me,” “Grandma’s Hands” and “Just the Two of Us,” died Monday, March 30, 2020, from heart complications. He was 81.
Gospel star Edwin Hawkins dies at 74
Edwin Hawkins, the gospel star best known for the crossover hit “Oh Happy Day” and as a major force for contemporary inspirational music, died Monday, Jan. 15, 2018, at age 74.
