Vanderbilt’s Kumar Rocker throws no-hitter to land in NCAA record book
Kumar Rocker is the talk of college baseball as the NCAA World Series is set to begin in Omaha, Neb. The Vanderbilt University freshman threw a no-hitter with 19 strikeouts in the Commodores’ 3-0 win over Duke University on June 8 in the NCAA Super Regional in Nashville.
Benedictine’s Jamari Baylor drafted in MLB third round by Philadelphia Phillies
Jamari Baylor is about to become a wealthy teenager. The former Benedictine College Preparatory school shortstop soon will sign a professional baseball contract with the Philadelphia Phillies.
MJBL Inner City Classic set for July 30-Aug. 4
The Metropolitan Junior Baseball League Inner City Classic is returning to the Richmond area. Games featuring youngsters in age groups from 19 and under are set for July 30 through Aug. 4 at a variety of diamonds in Richmond and Henrico County.
4 John Marshall basketball players sign with college teams
Years ago, the basketball coaches and players at Richmond’s John Marshall High School sowed the seeds of success, which have been watered with the perspiration of hard work. Now the players are harvesting the rewards.
Warriors hope to go the distance after Game 5 squeaker
Inside their blue and gold jerseys still beats the heart of a champion. The Golden State Warriors are hobbling and clinging to survival, but they’re still kicking — or more accurately — and swishing 3-pointers in a valiant bid for a third straight NBA title.
SBC president: Racial insensitivity disregards the gospel
Speaking at a black church last Sunday in a city that is nearly 75 percent African-American, the president of the Southern Baptist Convention, Dr. J.D. Greear, said white Christians who are racially insensitive are disregarding the gospel.
Boston church stamping Harriet Tubman on its $20 bills
Three years ago, the Treasury Department announced that it would put Harriet Tubman’s face on the front of the $20 bill by 2020. A portrait of the abolitionist, championed by activists, would replace that of President Andrew Jackson, who would be moved to the back of the bill.
Dr. Patricia Bath, whose patents advanced cataract treatment, dies at 76
Dr. Patricia Bath, a pioneering ophthalmologist who became the first African-American female doctor to receive a medical patent after she invented a more precise treatment of cataracts, has died. She was 76.
Personality: Anne Moss Rogers
Spotlight on recipient of 2019 Pat Asch Fellowship for Social Justice
Anne Moss Rogers wants to foster a “culture of connection” to help prevent suicide. Being selected as the 2019 recipient of the YWCA’s Pat Asch Fellowship for Social Justice will help her achieve that goal.
Retired judge honored with Carrico Award
For 32 years, Judge Wilford Taylor Jr. served on the bench in his hometown of Hampton. State judges have saluted the retired jurist with the 2019 Harry L. Carrico Outstanding Career Service Award for his work on the bench.
Rally calls on Gov. Northam to remove Lee statue from Monument Ave.
More than two dozen people called on Gov. Ralph S. Northam to remove the statue of Confederate Robert E. Lee from Monument Avenue during a recent rally in Richmond. The contingent, which included members of the Virginia Defenders for Freedom, Justice & Equality, held a protest June 1 to counter a band of about 25 neo-Confederates who staged their own rally in support of the Lee statue.
HOME challenges Chesterfield apartment complex policy in federal court
How far can a landlord go in banning people with felony or serious misdemeanor convictions as tenants? A new federal lawsuit seeks to find out. The fair housing watchdog Housing Opportunities Made Equal filed the suit in U.S. District Court in Richmond June 4 to challenge a Chesterfield County apartment complex’s policy banning anyone “who has ever been convicted of any felony” from becoming a tenant.
Sledge named city’s director of economic development
Leonard Sledge, who previously led economic development in Hampton and an Atlanta suburb, has been named the new director of economic and business development for Richmond.
Bike lanes proposed for 1st Street
Busy 1st Street in Jackson Ward would be reduced to one lane for traffic under a city proposal to install bike lanes on the west side of a roadway that is a significant link between North Side to Downtown and routes to South Side.
Facial hair? Richmond Police uniformed officers now have the OK
If you see uniformed Richmond Police officers sporting beards and mustaches, they have the OK of the top brass. Interim Police Chief William C. Smith made it possible. He quietly amended the department’s grooming policy to allow patrol officers to grow and wear neatly trimmed beards, goatees and mustaches.
RPS attendance officers cut without placement assistance
Butler Peterson has spent the past five years visiting families of truant Richmond Public Schools students to improve their attendance. That’s just one of the jobs he has held in his 18 years with RPS and why he hoped to be considered for one of the school-based attendance liaison positions that is to replace his role as an attendance officer.
RPS official says LEED standards haven’t returned big savings
Richmond Public Schools’ chief operating officer confirmed a Free Press finding that building new schools to a national energy standard has failed to pay off in energy savings. Darin Simmons told the Richmond School Board on June 3 that building Huguenot High and three other schools to the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED gold standard has not resulted in “significant” savings.
Saying goodbye
More than 1,000 people from across Metro Richmond came out to honor the life of 9-year-old Markiya Dickson, the Chesterfield County third-grader who was shot and killed at Carter Jones Park in South Side during the Memorial Day Weekend.
Agelasto’s council fate may rest with hearing
Parker C. Agelasto’s service on Richmond City Council is now in the hands of a Richmond Circuit Court judge after months of controversy over the 5th District councilman’s move to a home outside the district.
Armstrong graduation figures better than initial report
Armstrong High School is providing best evidence that more seniors are graduating from Richmond Public Schools this year than the public could have expected given the pessimistic projections released three weeks ago by Superintendent Jason Kamras and his staff.
