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Kobe Bryant's legacy felt in Richmond, around the world
Purple and gold-themed tributes of praise have sprung up as Richmond and communities in Virginia and around the world recognize the life and accomplishments of the late basketball star Kobe Bryant, an 18-time All-Star who won five NBA championships during his 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Faith group opposes Trump on voting data request
A national network of progressive faith organizations is rallying support for officials in Virginia and 43 other states and the District of Columbia who have rebuffed a Trump administration effort to collect detailed personal information on voters as part of a probe of alleged voter fraud.

Robert P. “Bob” Moses, who crusaded for civil rights and later math education, dies at 86
Robert P. “Bob” Moses, a civil rights activist who was shot at and endured beatings and jail while leading Black voter registration drives in the South during the 1960s and later helped improve minority education in math, died Sunday, July 25, 2021.

Muslim women, others denounce Trump attacks on Charlottesville family
When Donald Trump disparaged the parents of fallen Army Capt. Humayun Khan, he didn’t just pick a fight with the Khans. He now faces the ire of hundreds of Muslim American women.

‘America’s Dad’ Bill Cosby now inmate No. NN7687
“America’s Dad” Bill Cosby was marched out of court in shackles Tuesday after a judge branded him a “sexually violent predator” and sentenced him to between three and 10 years in prison for sexual assault.

More than gold
Gymnast Simone Biles stuns the world, her teammates and her competitors by withdrawing from Olympic team and individual all-around competition to focus on her mental health
Gymnastics superstar Simone Biles was expected to again helped lead the American team to gold medal glory at the Tokyo Olympics just as she had at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Instead, the reigning queen of the sport help draw attention to the stresses that top athletes face Tuesday after she voluntarily withdrew from further competition, citing concerns about her mental fitness to continue.

For Missouri Congresswoman Cori Bush, eviction fight is personal
Roughly two decades before she was elected to Congress, U.S. Rep. Cori Bush of Missouri lived in a Ford Explorer with her then-husband and two young children after the family had been evicted from their rental home.

Go further
‘I don’t think God wants us to stop’ at removing the Confederate flag, President Obama tells mourners at Rev. Pinckney’s funeral in S.C.
‘I don’t think God wants us to stop’ at removing the Confederate flag, President Obama tells mourners at Rev. Pinckney’s funeral in S.C.

Memorial to nation’s lynching victims opens
Elmore Bolling defied the odds against black men and built several successful businesses during the harsh era of Jim Crow segregation in the South. He had more money than a lot of white people, which his descendants believe was all it took to get him lynched in 1947.

A battle supreme
Dems, civil rights groups and others gearing up for confirmation fight over U.S. Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh
To President Trump, he’s “a judge’s judge” and “a brilliant legal mind” who deserves swift confirmation.

Dems take the House
Voter enthusiasm, coupled with rejection of Trump policies, results in Democrats regaining the U.S. House of Representatives in midterm election
Voters brought an end to one-party Republican rule in the nation’s capital in Tuesday’s election. Propelled by a surge of rank-and-file enthusiasm and widespread urban and suburban dissatisfaction with President Trump, Democrats took control of the House of Representatives for the first time since 2011.

Funeral arrangements announced for ‘Queen of Soul,’ Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin, the glorious “Queen of Soul” whose music became the backdrop for a generation and a theme song for both the civil rights and women’s movement, will be laid to rest Friday, Aug. 31, at Woodlawn Cemetery in Detroit.

Hundreds join ‘Moral March on Manchin’ as he blocks voting rights legislation
CHARLESTON, W.Va. Hundreds of demonstrators outraged with U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin’s opposition to a sweeping overhaul of U.S. election law marched through West Virginia’s capital city Monday evening.

Simone Biles wins 7th title
There’s no disputing that Simone Biles is a champion. After Sunday, she is now a champion seven times over.

Grieving with Pittsburgh
Families of the 11 people killed in the synagogue massacre Saturday begin to bury the dead amid a national outpouring of support
Pittsburgh’s Jewish community began burying its dead following Saturday’s synagogue massacre. Funeral services were held Tuesday for a beloved family doctor, a pillar of the congregation, and two middle-aged brothers known as the Rosenthal “boys.”

President calls for criminal justice reforms at NAACP convention
“Mass incarceration makes our country worse off, and we need to do something about it,” President Obama told 3,000 cheering people at the 106th annual NAACP National Convention in Philadelphia this week.

Charlottesville police chief retires in wake of damaging report
The first African-American police chief of Charlottesville abruptly retired Monday, about two weeks after a scathing independent review criticized his “slow-footed response” to violence at a white nationalist rally this summer.

What’s in a kiss? Wilder accused of sexual impropriety by VCU student
Aging political lion L. Douglas Wilder allegedly propositioned a Virginia Commonwealth University student who was young enough to be his great-granddaughter and has ended up receiving what amounts to an embarrassing and highly public slap from the young woman.

VMI superintendent resigns after probe ordered of ‘ongoing structural racism’
The superintendent of Virginia Military Institute resigned Mon- day, a week after Gov. Ralph S. Northam and other state officials ordered an investigation into what they characterized as a culture of “ongoing structural racism” at the college.

Former U.S. Sen. John Warner dies at 94
Flags are flying at half-staff over the nation’s capital in honor of former U.S. Sen. John W. Warner of Virginia who died Tuesday, May 25, 2021, at age 94.