Waller glides into QB role for VSU; next up, battle of the coaches, both former NFL players
D’Vonte Waller led Highland Springs High School to two state championships. Now it seems he may be the quarterback to lead Virginia State University out of a rough patch.
Dejected Panthers hoping for homecoming win Saturday against Lincoln
Virginia Union University’s road to football riches has grown long and bumpy, but there is still a lane to the top.
Religious groups call for commission on Indian boarding school policy
A number of Catholic groups and Protestant denominations are calling for the United States to establish a Truth and Healing Commission to reckon with the country’s history of boarding schools that separated thousands of Indigenous children from their families and cultures during the 19th and 20th centuries.
RPS students testing positive for COVID-19 told to quarantine for 21 days
Richmond students who have tested positive for COVID-19 are being kept away from in-person learning for up to 21 days – at least a week longer than the 14 days that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends, the Free Press has been told.
Fewer Black youths in Richmond getting vaccinated, officials find
Richmond health officials are working to address the latest disparity in COVID-19 vaccinations, a racial difference among children.
VSU requiring proof of vaccination to attend athletic events
Want to go to Virginia State University’s homecoming football game on Oct. 23? What about the “Take a Kid to the Game” day this Saturday, Oct. 9, at Rogers Stadium on the Ettrick campus? If so, make sure you take your COVID-19 vaccination card with you. VSU officials announced last week that, effective immediately, all guests at Rogers Stadium and other campus athletic events are required to show proof of full COVID-19 vaccination before entry. The new requirement is part of an effort to ensure the health and wellness of the VSU community and campus visitors. “Right now, our campus has an infection rate below 1 percent,” stated Peggy Davis, VSU’s associate vice president for intercollegiate athletics. “Our goal is to maintain or even reduce our already low positivity rate in an effort to eradicate the virus on campus all together. At all times, the safety of our students comes first and this step further demonstrates that as our priority.” Anyone 18 and older will need to provide proof of vaccina- tion, along with a photo I.D. Masks also are required to be worn outdoors at VSU, except when eating or drinking. University officials stated that the requirements will be enforced, including at the homecoming game against Lincoln University.
Crusade for Voters to celebrate 65th anniversary with banquet Oct. 14
The Richmond Crusade for Voters, the area’s oldest Black political group, will mark its 65th anniversary with a scholarship banquet 6 p.m. next Thursday, Oct. 14, it has been announced.
DMV reopens for walk-in service without appointments
Virginia’s Department of Motor Vehicles offices are reopening for walk-in service three days a week.
Registrar issues reminder about witness signature for mail-in ballots
Richmond Voter Registrar Keith G. Balmer on Wednesday warned that voters using mail-in ballots to vote in the Nov. 2 election must have the return envelope countersigned by a witness — a requirement that was suspended before the governor ended the pandemic emergency during the summer.
City Council signals support for plans for American Rescue Plan money
As Mayor Levar M. Stoney proposed, four community recreation centers will get a major chunk of the $155 million flowing into Richmond’s treasury from the federal American Rescue Plan Act.
RPS graduation rate improves; no longer the lowest in state
Richmond Public Schools no longer has the lowest on-time graduation rate in Virginia.
Surprised again, Richmond’s Ashley Bland named state Region 1 Teacher of the Year
Ashley S. Bland thought she was giving a simple tour Monday of the outdoor environmental learning center she helped create at John B. Cary Elementary to Gov. Ralph S. Northam and his wife, First Lady Pamela Northam, Mayor Levar M. Stoney, Richmond schools Superintendent Jason Kamras and Richmond School Board Chairwoman Cheryl L. Burke.
30 years after testimony, Anita Hill still waits for change
America had yet to really understand sexual harassment when Anita Hill testified against Clarence Thomas in front of an all-male U.S. Senate panel in October 1991. He was confirmed to the U.S. Supreme Court anyway, but Ms. Hill’s work was just beginning.
Henrietta Lacks estate sues company using her ‘stolen’ cells
COLLEGE PARK, Md. The estate of Henrietta Lacks sued a biotechnology company on Monday, accusing it of sell- ing cells that doctors at Johns Hopkins Hospital took from the Black woman in 1951 without her knowledge or consent as part of “a racially unjust medical system.”
VCUarts building now named for late dean Dr. Murry N. DePillars
The sound of jazz broke through the commotion of traffic and people on West Broad Street as the sun set on the city last Thursday. Bands played outside and within the former Virginia Commonwealth University Fine Arts Building at 1000 W. Broad St. as guests gathered for a ceremony officially renaming the building after Dr. Murry N. DePillars, the late dean of VCUarts.
Bubba Wallace claims victory, history as first Black to win NASCAR Cup Series since 1963
The hard part wasn’t dodging his way around a crash and then driving to the front of the field at Talladega Superspeedway. That was just instinct for Bubba Wallace.
Pat Robertson retiring at 91 from ‘The 700 Club’
Pat Robertson, who turned Christian TV into political power — and blew it up with wacky prophecy — announced last week his intention to retire as daily host of “The 700 Club.”
Personality: Omari Kijana Al-Qadaffi
Spotlight on recipient of Housing and Racial Justice Commendation from the National Housing Law Project
During a time where millions of people remain at risk of eviction in a pandemic, in a city that gained notice nationally for the second highest eviction rate in the country before COVID-19, Omari Kijana Al-Qadaffi has been a constant presence as a community organizer and housing advocate.
