All results / Stories
Sort By
Date
Authors
- Everyone
- Fred Jeter (747)
- Jeremy M. Lazarus (643)
- Free Press wire reports (145)
- Joey Matthews (86)
- Associated Press (65)
- Ronald E. Carrington (61)
- Free Press staff report (59)
- Free Press staff, wire reports (55)
- George Copeland Jr. (54)
- Religion News Service (23)
RPS chief operating officer quits
Alana Gonzalez, the chief operating officer for Richmond Public Schools, has submitted her resignation, effective Friday, May 20.
Pastor Anthony Franklin Sr. sees his mission as giving back where a community has needs
For years, Pastor Anthony Franklin Sr. struggled to pay the rent and keep the lights on for the small non-denominational Richmond church he founded called Truth Ministries.
Samantha Cunningham of VSU earns All-CIAA honors
Virginia State University softball slug- ger Samantha Cunningham went out with a bang, or rather a sharp ping from her metal alloy bat. In her final season wearing the Trojans’ orange and blue, the senior third base player from Waukegan, Ill., earned All-CIAA hon- ors while leading the conference in hitting at .467. Cunningham finished with 13 doubles, three home runs, 29 runs batted in and struck Delaware State president, athletes decry search of team bus by Georgia deputies Associated Press SAVANNAH, Ga. The president of Delaware State University, a historically Black college, accused sheriff’s deputies in Georgia of intimidating and humiliating the university’s women’s lacrosse team when deputies pulled over the athletes’ bus and searched it for drugs. Delaware State University President Tony Allen said he’s “incensed” by the April 20 traffic stop along Interstate 95 south of Savannah as the team returned from a game in Florida. In a letter to students and faculty, Dr. Allen said nothing illegal was found and campus officials were “exploring options for recourse — legal and otherwise.” “We do not intend to let this or any other incident like it pass idly by,” Dr. Allen said in the letter posted Monday on the university’s social media pages. Liberty County, Ga., Sheriff William Bowman, who is Black, said Tuesday his office is conducting a formal review of the traffic stop. He said deputies had stopped other commercial vehicles the same morning along I-95 and found drugs on a different bus. The team’s chartered bus was stopped because it was traveling in the left lane, which is a violation of Georgia law, he said. The sheriff said deputies decided to search the team’s bus when a drug-sniffing dog “alerted” alongside it. “I do not exercise racial profiling, allow racial profiling or encourage racial profiling,” Sheriff Bowman told reporters. The sheriff added that based on what he already knows, “I believe the stop was legal.” No one was arrested or charged. The sheriff said the bus driver was given a warning. Video posted online by one of the Delaware State lacrosse players shows two white deputies on the bus. One of them tells the bus passengers that possessing marijuana remains illegal in Georgia. “If there is anything in y’all’s luggage, we’re probably going to find it, OK,” the deputy says. “I’m not looking for a little bit of marijuana, but I’m pretty sure you guys’ chaperones are probably going to be disappointed in you if we find any.” The deputy continues : “You guys are on a lacrosse team, correct? If there is something in there that is questionable, please tell me now. Because if we find it, guess what? We’re not going to be able to help you.” Sydney Anderson, the student who posted the video, wrote in the campus publication The Hornet Newspaper that team members felt there was “underlying racism” behind the search. “The team members were in shock, as they witnessed the of- ficers rambling through their bags,” Ms. Anderson wrote. “They brought the K-9 dog out to sniff their luggage. The cops began tossing underwear and other feminine products, in an attempt to locate narcotics.” Georgia courts have held that the odor of marijuana is enough to give police probable cause to search vehicles without a warrant. The sheriff said he welcomes feedback from the lacrosse team. “We realize that in this current environment, even a traffic stop can be alarming to citizens, especially African-Americans,” Sheriff Bowman said. out only four times in more than 100 plate appearances. Earning second team honors for the Trojans were designated player Macy Beville from nearby Dinwiddie and pitcher Alaijah Pratt from Lusby, Md. Also, Pratt and Desmyn Owens of Lawrenceville made the All-Freshman team. Under first-year Coach Jameshia Smith, VSU finished 20-13 overall and 13-4 in the CIAA. The Trojans’ season ended with a 6-4 loss to Bowie State University on May 7 in the loser’s bracket final of the CIAA Tournament in Glen Allen.
Delaware State president, athletes decry search of team bus by Georgia deputies
The president of Delaware State University, a historically Black college, accused sheriff’s deputies in Georgia of intimidating and humiliating the university’s women’s lacrosse team when deputies pulled over the athletes’ bus and searched it for drugs.
W&M dedicates memorial to those who were enslaved by the university
William & Mary, the nation’s second oldest institution of higher education, dedicated a brick memorial last Saturday that honors people who were enslaved by the university.
Retiring HU president offers advice to graduates
Hampton University’s 152nd annual commencement celebrated graduates as well as the 44-year tenure of HU President William R. “Bill” Harvey, who is retiring on June 30. Dr. Harvey, 81, served as the keynote speaker for the commencement, which was held on Mother’s Day at the Hampton University Convocation Center on campus. Dr. Harvey highlighted a long list of accomplishments made by the university under his stewardship, such as the creation of the Hampton University Proton Therapy Institute to treat cancer and increasing the university’s endowment from $29 million to more than $400 million today. Dr. Harvey told the graduates, “Don’t settle with being the employee; I want you to be the employer. Don’t settle with representing the firm or corporation; I want you to own the firm or corporation. See the horizon as not a limit, but an invitation….” He offered grandfatherly advice to graduates, ranging from the financial -- “Pay yourself first. Save something from every single paycheck. Buy some property”– to the social – “Stay away from drugs and drug dealers. They will destroy your life or make it miserable.” Dr. Harvey went on to tell graduates to “fight racism every time it arises” and to “be positive role models. Be somebody.” He closed out his address by telling graduates to support Hampton University with their money. During the ceremony, Rashida Jones, who became the first Black woman to lead a cable news network when she was named president of MSNBC in February 2021, received the Outstanding 20-Year Alumna Award. The Henrico High School graduate earned a bachelor’s degree in mass media arts from Hampton University in 2002. Earlier this year, she launched the Rashida Jones Scholarship Fund for journalism students at the university. Thomas Hasty III, senior executive vice president and chief regulatory risk officer of TowneBank, received the Outstanding Alumnus-at-Large Award. He graduated from HU in 1977 with a degree in business. Honorary degrees were awarded to former Virginia Supreme Court Justice John Charles Thomas, who was the first Black named to the state’s highest court in 1983, and Christopher Newport University President Paul S. Trible Jr., who represented Virginia in the U.S. Senate from 1983 to 1989.
’Intertwined history’
Descendants of the enslaved and their owners on a noted Caroline County plantation are working together to preserve remnants of their shared history that remain on the land
For years, Mike Mines has been fiercely determined to ensure that his two children know what he had not known much of his life — his family’s history.
Abortion battle erupts with leaded U.S. Supreme Court draft opinion
America’s decades-old battle over abortion rights exploded anew on Tuesday as the U.S. Supreme Court authenticated a draft opinion leaked to the news outlet Politico that signaled the court will soon overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion nationwide.
Personality: LeTeisha Gordon
Spotlight on founder and program director of A Better Day Than Yesterday Initiative Program
“Ms. Gordon, how would you rebuild a relationship with someone that was released from prison?”
Players’ fortunes rise with the NFL draft; others seeking free agent contract
If Jahan Dotson does in the NFL what he did in college, the Washington Commanders’ first season could have fans dancing in the aisles at FedEx Field.
Washington Nationals may be out front in diversity in MLB
The Washington Nationals may be last in the National League East standings, but they’re likely first in diversity.
Ashton Pratt signs to join the VUU Panthers next season; JV basketball team also in the works
Virginia Union University has received a commitment from one of the best players from arguably the state’s best high school basketball team.
Chris Cheeks, former VCU standout and Boston College coach, dies at 54
Chris Cheeks, among the most prolific scorers in Virginia Commonwealth University basketball history, died Wednesday, April 20, 2022. He was 54 and living in the Boston area where he was an assistant basketball coach at Boston College.
Readers and officials react to the leak of a draft U.S. Supreme Court majority opinion concerning the overturning of Roe v. Wade
People everywhere have silenced, discounted, disparaged and cursed women long enough. We are the ones who engender children. We are the ones who are so connected to those children that we suffer with them.
Climate crisis increasingly a refugee crisis, faith resettlement groups say
For Monique Verdin, the apocalypse came in 2005.
Scottie Barnes is NBA Rookie of the Year; ‘Bones’ Hyland ranks 8th among rookies in scoring
Scottie Barnes is the NBA Rookie of the Year, but don’t overlook former Virginia Commonwealth University star Nah’Shon “Bones” Hyland on the top newcomers list.
End of an era
Hampton University President William R. ‘Bill’ Harvey is stepping down June 30 after 44 years at the helm
Hampton University, one of the nation’s first historically black institutions, was a small struggling four-year college on the banks of the Hampton River near the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay when an ambitious, young Dr. William R. “Bill” Harvey Jr. from Tuskegee Institute in Alabama was chosen as president of the institution.
Dr. Delores R. Greene, longtime educator and former VUU and VSU dean, dies at 86
Dr. Delores Ann Richburg Greene felt the call to be a teacher when she was just 4 years old and in pre-school. She would play school in the backyard of her Petersburg home, where she would provide instruction on reading to her neighborhood friends. From that beginning, Dr. Greene would follow her dream. In a career that spanned 57 years, she rose from a classroom teacher to become a dean in the College of Education at Virginia State University, her alma mater.
Charles ‘Baby Charles’ Jones Jr., promoter, manager and producer for entertainers, dies at 47
Charles “Baby Charles” Jones Jr. managed, promoted and produced recordings for new and up-and-coming singers and hip-hop artists during his 30 years in the entertainment field. But the Richmond native was proudest of his work guiding and mentoring the music career of his oldest son, Charles Jones III, better known as Young Prince Charles in the rap world.
