
City public safety workers receive bonuses of up to $3,000
Richmond’s public safety employees received a holiday gift— bonuses up to $3,000 apiece as a thank you for their service during the pandemic.

Councilwoman Stephanie Lynch charged with 2 misdemeanors
Fifth District City Councilwoman Stephanie Lynch has been charged with two misdemeanors after Richmond Police say she struck an unoccupied, parked SUV and failed to stop and notify the owner.

Elusive copper cornerstone box pulled from Lee pedestal, opened
Conservation experts at the Virginia Department of Historic Resources pulled books, money, ammunition, documents and other artifacts Tuesday from a long-sought-after time capsule found in the remnants of a pedestal on Richmond’s Monument Avenue that once held a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.

VSU grad combines degree and love of animals to open North Side pet bath and spa
Michelle Millett and her mother, Arlene Young, are making it easier for pet parents to give their fur babies a bath.

Dr. John Guns to give keynote at Emancipation Proclamation virtual worship service Jan. 1
Dr. John Guns, the new dean of the Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology at Virginia Union University, will be the featured speaker at the annual Emancipation Proclamation Day service at 11 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 1, sponsored by the Baptist Ministers’ Conference of Richmond and Vicinity.

Dr. Carolyn N. Graham, former Richmond deputy CAO for human services, dies at 75
Dr. Carolyn Nadene Graham, a top social services executive in Richmond, Washington and Florida and creator of the Washington-based Mary Elizabeth House to aid young mothers aging out of foster care, has died.

Personality: Martha Jones-Carter
Spotlight on co-founder of Kuumba Afrikan American Quilters Guild of Richmond
If art tells a story, then Martha Jones-Carter has helped weave a multitude of personal and community-built narratives over the course of her life.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu, lion of anti-apartheid movement, dies at 90
Mourners held a candlelight prayer ceremony outside the Soweto home of the late Archbishop Desmond Tutu on Wednesday, weeping over the memory not only of a world-renowned lion of the anti-apartheid movement but of a kind and loyal neighbor.

Into the future
Heading into 2022, Mayor Stoney details his focus for Richmond’s growth and opportunities in the coming years
Mayor Levar M. Stoney is bullish on Richmond as he prepares to begin his sixth year in the city’s top elected office.

State NAACP weighing appeal of new redistricting maps to U.S. Supreme Court
Will there be an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court?

Gerald G. Poindexter, a Surry County county attorney and prosecutor, dies at 80
Gerald Glenn Poindexter, a legal institution in Surry County where he served 23 years as county attorney and another 20 years as commonwealth’s attorney, has died.

Denzel Washington: ‘I wanted to please God’ in latest directing effort
Longtime actor Denzel Washington said his faith was a part of every decision he made in directing the new movie, “A Journal For Jordan,” based on the writings of an Army sergeant who was killed in action.

Our dollars as a form of resistance, by Julianne Malveaux
Our nation’s gross domestic product, or GDP, is a function of consumer spending. We are prodded, cajoled, enticed and engaged in the spending exercise, and all that happens because money makes the world go round.

‘No time to waste!’, by Dr. E. Faye Williams
There’s an obvious scheme afoot to return the United States to a period in time where we lived with a completely different social construct and contract.

Mobilize for voting rights, by Marc H. Morial
“After decades of struggle and a year of our leaders choosing the Jim Crow filibuster over our voting rights, our time is now. On this day of action, I call on Congress and the White House to eliminate the filibuster and pass voting rights to protect millions of Black and Brown voters. The arc of the moral universe is long. Join me on January 17 to demand that it bends toward justice.” — Martin Luther King III

Unity of Richmond to host Kwanzaa service Dec. 26
A West End Richmond worship center will help launch the local celebration of Kwanzaa on Sunday, Dec. 26, the start of the seven-day holiday that runs through New Year’s Day.

Creator of Kwanzaa to speak at 32nd Annual Capital City Kwanzaa Festival Dec. 30
Dr. Maulana Karenga was just 24 when he launched the Kwanzaa holiday in 1966 to enable Black communities in this country and worldwide to celebrate their African heritage.