Ready for our ‘Earth shot’, by Ben Jealous
As we greet 2023, I’m feeling more than the typical seasonal optimism. America is primed once again for a historic achievement. Call it our “Earth shot.”
What if Mary and Joseph came to today’s Washington?, by Clarence Page
On the second day of Christmas, my true love said to me, “You ought to write about the family that took in the South Korean tourists who were stranded near Buffalo.”
Facts
In closing out 2022, the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) issued facts that which Black Americans and others may find interesting.
Foremost wishes for the new year
With the start of 2023, the Richmond Free Press invited select local officials to share their foremost wishes for the new year. Here are their responses:
With the start of 2023, the Richmond Free Press invited select local officials to share their foremost wishes for the new year.
VCU applicants receive incorrect acceptance letters
Students who recently applied to Virginia Commonwealth University for fall 2023 received a message last week that led them to believe they had been accepted.
Moving on
Two significant Richmond institutions, Senior Connections and the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority, are in the process of moving to new addresses.
City hires attorney Keith D. Greenberg to handle labor relations
Richmond police officers, firefighters and City Hall employees have moved a step closer to having labor unions.
Virginia Union’s MLK Breakfast on Jan. 13
“All Things, Excellence,” is the theme for this year’s 45th Martin Luther King Jr. Community Leaders Celebration. The annual event hosted by Virginia Union University will take place 7:30 a.m. Friday, Jan. 13 at the Downtown Richmond Marriott, 500 E. Broad St.
YWCA’s advancement officer becomes CEO
Rupa Murthy has been named the next CEO of YWCA Richmond. She will succeed Linda Tissiere, who is retiring after leading the nonprofit for the last decade.
Want a COVID-19 vaccine or booster shot?
The Richmond and Henrico County health districts are offering testing at the following locations.
Maryland artist will create Capitol statue of Barbara Johns
Steven Weitzman, a leading figure American public art, has already sculpted abolitionist Frederick Douglass and former Washington Mayor Marion S. Barry Jr. Now the 71-year-old Maryland-based artist has been chosen to immortalize Black teenage activist Barbara Rose Jones in a bronze statue in the U.S. Capitol.
Pope Francis praises ‘gentle’ Pope Benedict XVI ahead of funeral
Pope Francis praised Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s “acute and gentle thought” as he presided over a packed Wednesday general audience in the Vatican, while thousands of people paid tribute to the former pope on the final day of public viewing in St. Peter’s Basilica.
Earle P. Taylor, photographer and cultural arts innovator, dies at 94
Beneficiaries of his work included Last Stop Gallery and Pine Camp
Earle Palmer Taylor, a renowned Richmond photographer who ran a nonprofit Shockoe Bottom art gallery for two decades and taught hundreds of people the art of taking and de- veloping pictures at the city’s Pine Camp art center, has died.
New book chronicles civil rights advocate Curtis W. Harris Sr.
Seeking racial justice, the late Hopewell minister and mayor walked the frontlines with Martin Luther King Jr.
Born in 1924 during the harsh racial segregation regime, the Rev. Curtis White Harris Sr. rose to become a key figure in the fight for Black equality in Virginia and the country.
Personality: Jerome Legions Jr.
Spotlight on board president of the Richmond Crusade for Voters
Jerome Legions Jr. hopes to bring new energy to one of Richmond’s oldest civic and civil rights groups in the new year.
Absenteeism at RPS is down 1.8 percent, but remains high
Chronic absenteeism among school-aged children who miss 10 percent of days or more due to excused and unexcused absences continues to plague school systems, including Richmond Public Schools, throughout the country.
The ultimate 10
Pelé, Brazil’s mighty king of ‘beautiful game,’ mourned
He was born Edson Arantes do Nascimento but came to be known and admired worldwide as simply “Pelé.”
McCarthy rejected for House speaker with GOP in disarray
House Republicans flailed through a second day of multiple balloting Wednesday, unable to elect their leader Kevin McCarthy as House speaker or come up with a new strategy to end the political chaos that has tarnished the start of their new majority.
Jan. 6 Report already on Amazon bestseller list
It took less than a day for the Jan. 6 report to go from public unveiling to the bestseller list on Amazon.com.
Review: Clumsy Whitney Houston biopic mars its star’s skill
Whitney Houston’s voice was one of a kind and the creative team behind a new big-budget biopic of the singer had no choice but to agree.
