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VIA Heritage Association to induct inaugural Hall of Fame group
Numerous athletes, coaches and contributors from the Richmond area have been named to Virginia Interscholastic Association Heritage Association’s (VIAHA) inaugural Hall of Fame Class. The induction banquet will be 5:30 p.m. Monday, June 20, at DoubleTree by Hilton in Charlottesville, 990 Hilton Heights Road.
Painter, sculptor Thornton Dial dies
McCALLA, Ala. Self-taught artist Thornton Dial, who transformed discarded junk into sculpture and painted in bright colors and bold lines, has died at his home in Alabama. He was 87.
Sherron Mills, former VCU basketball standout, dies at 44
Former Virginia Commonwealth University basketball star Sherron Mills died Sunday, Jan. 17, 2016, of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. Mr. Mills was 44 and lived in Baltimore.
Personality: Amber J. Adams
Spotlight on president of Richmond Metropolitan Chapter of NABA
In 1969, only 136 of the nation’s 100,000 certified public accountants were African-American. In response to that dismal lack of representation, nine African-American accountants met in New York to discuss the quandary faced in their profession. They formed the National Association of Black Accountants to address the concerns of minorities entering the accounting profession and to make a commitment to professional and academic excellence. They chose a theme/motto for the nonprofit organization: “Lifting As We Climb.”
TIME features photo by Regina H. Boone
Award-winning photographer Regina H. Boone has pricked the nation’s conscience with her poignant photograph of a rash-covered child affected by the lead-contaminated water in Flint, Mich. The former Richmond Free Press photographer’s image of 2-year-old Sincere Smith is featured on the cover of the Feb. 1 edition of TIME magazine.
GOP-controlled General Assembly bucks McAuliffe’s choice in court drama
The fate of Virginia Supreme Court Justice Jane Marum Roush is expected to be determined this week, with expectations that she will once again fail to win General Assembly election to remain on the state’s highest court. In the latest twist in this continuing drama surrounding a judicial appointment, the House of Delegates is to vote Thursday, Jan. 28, on whether Justice Roush is to receive a 12-year appointment on the state Supreme Court or be forced to step down by mid-February.
Paydazed in RVA
High-fee payday loan traps Henrico man
Running short of money to pay bills, Donald Garrett did what many people do — he turned to a payday lender. He borrowed $100 from a small loan company called Advance ‘Til Payday on Nine Mile Road near his Henrico County apartment in order to catch up. Four months later, he had wracked up $320 in fees and still was unable to pay off the original $100. Until a friend stepped in and paid off his debt, he faced paying $80 each month. To pay the loan off, $100 had to be added to the $80 payment.
Violent crime in city down in 2015
Mayor Dwight C. Jones and Police Chief Alfred Durham trumpeted a major decrease in violent crimes committed in the city during 2015 at a news conference last Friday. But the grim reality of crime’s impact on the community was illustrated when Charlene Boone stepped to the podium during the officials’ announcement last Friday at the Richmond Police Training Academy.
Is it really about the tree?
Several years ago, I was in Seattle and visited the African-American museum there. They had a display on Maggie L. Walker, and as a Richmonder, I was the proudest person in the museum.
Wyatt T. Walker to be honored at VUU events
Civil rights icon and Virginia Union University alumnus Dr. Wyatt Tee Walker will be honored at events on the campus of his alma mater Thursday, Jan. 28, through Saturday, Jan. 30.
Award-winning poet Sonia Sanchez to speak Saturday at Film Festival
The Afrikana Independent Film Festival is introducing its “Evening with an Icon” film series with award-winning poet Sonia Sanchez. Ms. Sanchez, 81, will participate in an audience discussion about her life and work after a screening of the documentary about her, “BaddDDD Sonia Sanchez.”
Lack of diversity prompts Oscar boycott announcement
Director Spike Lee and actress Jada Pinkett Smith plan to boycott next month’s Academy Awards ceremony because black actors were shut out of nominations. The Academy acknowledged this week that it needs to do more to promote diversity after the Oscar nominees for acting that were announced last Thursday lacked black performers for a second straight year.
VUU takes game from VSU by 2 to claim Freedom Classic win
Long-limbed and athletic, Ray Anderson is gifted with excellent speed, quickness and jumping ability. Yet he does some of his best work standing still. In helping Virginia Union University win the Freedom Classic 70-68 over Virginia State University last Sunday at the Richmond Coliseum, Anderson left the Trojans in a “foul” mood.
VCU Rams prevail in overtime against UR
Anyone who has ever played the arcade game Whac-A-Mole can understand the frustration of Virginia Commonwealth University’s basketball foes. Each time you knock down one mole — in VCU’s case, containing one high scorer — another pops up. Consider:
Hiring one, firing one among NFL black coaching ranks
The Cleveland Browns have turned to journeyman Hue Jackson to jumpstart the stalled franchise. The 50-year-old Jackson, most recently offensive coordinator for the Cincinnati Bengals, is accepting what has been the NFL’s version of mission impossible. Since 1999 when the “new” Browns were born in Northeast Ohio, the franchise has gone 87-185, with just two playoff games (losses in 2002 and 2007). Coach Mike Pettine, after two years on the sidelines, was fired after going 3-13 this last season as the latest casualty on the coaching merry-go-round.
Praying to put an end to ‘senseless acts of violence’
Kenneth Williams said he was compelled to take a leap of faith to stem the city’s homicides after he attended the funeral last month of 12-year-old shooting victim Amiya Moses. “It was the saddest thing I witnessed in my life,” said Mr. Williams, a trustee at First Baptist Church Centralia in Chesterfield County and CEO and director of the Richmond-based Adult Alternative Program to help ex-offenders re-integrate into society. “I was so angry about her senseless death.”
Yay Rah Rah!
Armstrong’s Rashaundra Thomas hits 1,000 points
Rashaundra Thomas has a long name, a short frame and an often dazzling game. The 5-foot-3 Armstrong High School senior, who answers to “Rah Rah,” is the Wildcats’ first 1,000-point basketball scorer since Denise Winn in 1994.
Monte Irvin, who helped integrate major league baseball, dies at 96
Monte Irvin, a trailblazing baseball star and the oldest surviving Negro Leagues player, died Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2016, of natural causes at a retirement community in Houston. He was 96. Had it not been for a contractual issue with the Negro Leagues’ Newark Eagles in New Jersey, Mr. Irvin — and not Jackie Robinson — might have been the first African-American to play in the modern big leagues. Eagles owner Effa Manley would not allow Brooklyn Dodgers owner Branch Rickey to acquire Mr. Irvin without financial compensation.
Julia Melton Thornton, 91, longtime educator
Before she began teaching class each day at Virginia Union University in the Department of Education, Julia M. Thornton recited a saying to her students from Dr. Benjamin E. Mays, the late educator-philospher and former Morehouse College president.
Voter registrar explains plan to stop poll problems
Mistakes happen. That, Richmond Voter Registrar Kirk Showalter told the state Board of Elections, is the reason why some voters were given the wrong ballots and had trouble being checked in to vote during the Nov. 3 election. However, she said changes are being put in place to ensure that the problems that led to numerous complaints do not recur in upcoming elections.
