
Gov. Northam calls for elimination of state tax on groceries
Virginians would pay a smaller tax on groceries and receive an income tax rebate of up to $500 under outgoing Gov. Ralph S. Northam’s budget proposal rolled out on Tuesday.

Khalfani returns to Richmond in advocacy role
The former executive director of the Virginia State Conference of the NAACP is the newest member of the lobbying team of the Richmond- based Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy, a coalition of 750 faith groups that advocates for economic, racial and social justice.

Lightning rod Alice Massie to step down from Monroe Park Conservancy
A key figure in the management of Monroe Park who was the focus of much of the criticism of the park’s operation is stepping down.

Mayor appoints first woman to lead city Department of Public Utilities
For the first time, a woman is in charge of the Richmond Department of Public Utilities.

GRTC to reduce service on some bus routes beginning Dec. 19
GRTC will play the Grinch just before Christmas and cut service as it struggles with a shortfall of about 50 full- and part-time drivers and shortages in the maintenance staff of mechanics and body shop personnel.

RPS would need $44M to cover Gov. Northam’s proposed teach pay hike
If Gov. Ralph S. Northam’s proposal to increase teacher and school staff pay by 10 percent over the next two years wins support from the General Assembly, Richmond taxpayers could feel the impact.

Officials urge caution during the holidays with omicron variant
Virginia health officials are urging caution and for people to protect themselves as omicron, a new variant of the coronavirus, rapidly spreads throughout the United States.

Pharrell to NSU grads: ‘You have the ability to create the city, life that you deserve’
NORFOLK Grammy Award-winning musician Pharrell Williams told the newest graduates of Norfolk State University on Saturday to act like “the emerging majority” and help develop the area’s businesses and culture.

Steph Curry breaks NBA record for 3-pointers
Master marksman Stephen Curry is taking dead aim on an all-time NBA record.

Woodland Restoration Foundation hopes descendants will help with continuing cemetery upkeep, plans
Call him the headstone hunter.

Personality: The Rev. John Brian Sawyer
Spotlight on co-founder and board chairman of Bridging RVA
The Rev. John Brian Sawyer has lived a life driven by his passions.

The shake-up
Here is how the Virginia Supreme Court’s new redistricting maps would shake out for Richmond and the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus.

Richmond, VLBC stand to lose under redrawn district maps
A major political shake-up. That’s the expected result when the Virginia Supreme Court approves new boundaries for the state’s 100 House of Delegates districts, 40 state Senate districts and 11 congressional districts.

NAACP, Herring support innocence claims of the Waverly Two
More than 20 years after two men were sentenced to prison for convictions stemming from the slaying of a Waverly police officer, a new effort has emerged that could grant them their innocence and freedom.

Give gift of Black history this year
During this gift-giving season, it’s very important that serious Black parents provide their children with at least one gift that either introduces them to or broadens their knowledge of Black history.

Remembering the Montgomery bus boycott, by Marc H. Morial
“There comes a time when people get tired of being trampled over by the iron feet of oppression. There comes a time, my friends, when people get tired of being plunged across the abyss of humiliation, where they experience the bleakness of nagging despair. There comes a time when people get tired of being pushed out of the glittering sunlight of life’s July and left standing amid the piercing chill of an alpine November. There comes a time.” — Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Dec. 5, 1955, address to the first Montgomery Improvement Association Mass Meeting.

Right-wing judges putting women’s health care at risk, by Ben Jealous
The political and legal movement to criminalize abortion in the United States is on the brink of its biggest victory in 50 years. Most at risk are people who already are among the most vulnerable in our country—Black and Brown women and LGBTQ people who will be denied access to potentially life-saving health care.

Hate floats; we hope not here
We read with interest a story about the 25th Annual Yorktown Lighted Boat Parade that took place last Saturday evening on the Yorktown waterfront.