
Mayor Stoney proposes meals tax hike to support schools
Declaring that Richmond “is strong,” Mayor Levar M. Stoney called for “bold and courageous” action to deal with some of the city’s unmet challenges such as decaying schools and public housing.

Bond fund to help people stay out of jail
Get arrested and you could lose your job, your home, custody of your children and anything you own if you can’t raise bail money.

New RPS superintendent to be sworn in Feb. 1
Jason Kamras, the new superintendent of Richmond Public Schools, will be sworn in at 9 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 1, in the School Board Room on the 17th floor of Richmond City Hall, 900 E. Broad St. in Downtown. The ceremony is open to the public.

Dr. Wyatt Tee Walker, civil rights icon, chief of staff to Dr. King, dies in Chester
Dr. Wyatt Tee Walker Jr. did all he could to advance civil rights during his long life. He is credited with being the key strategist behind many of the civil rights protests that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. led in seeking to end the racial injustice of Jim Crow in the 1960s.

Dr. King’s work not finished
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. didn’t plan to get involved in the Memphis, Tenn., garbage workers’ strike. He hadn’t planned to be there on the fateful day when he was shot on April 4, 1968. But he was pressured to go the first time and found the garbage workers’ strike compelling. He promised to return, and felt it important to keep his word, despite a packed schedule.

Not crazy, just racist
OK, can we finally stop beating around the bush and say outright that President Donald J. Trump is a white supremacist?
Virginia hope
We give high marks to Virginia’s newly inaugurated governor, Dr. Ralph S. Northam. The pediatric neurosurgeon and his Democratic team of Lt. Gov. Justin E. Fairfax and Attorney General Mark R. Herring stepped into the limelight and their important posts on Saturday with an inaugural ceremony that spoke to what’s right and good about Virginia by embracing its rich diversity.

Challenge under raps
Cosby High School student hoping for fame and a win on music TV show
When Brazil Barber posted a music video on YouTube in March 2016 of a song she wrote and performed, little did she know that it would open doors and land her on a national cable television show.

Rep. A. Donald McEachin energizes crowd at Community Leaders Breakfast
Congressman A. Donald McEachin got serious — and spiritual — very quickly last Friday as he launched his keynote address at Virginia Union University’s 40th Annual Community Leaders Breakfast.

Dr. Summers to speak Jan.18 on Civil War era media
Dr. Mark Summers, the Thomas D. Clark Professor of History at the University of Kentucky, will speak on “The Partisan Press of the 1860s” during the American Civil War Museum’s Foundry Series program 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 18, at Historic Tredegar, 490 Tredegar St.

Director Ava DuVernay wins top award at NAACP Image Awards
A jubilant Ava DuVernay was named Entertainer of the Year at Monday night’s NAACP Image Awards ceremony that focused on the black community’s power to create change.

Former Powhatan High School football star headed to Olympics
The explosive power that made Hakeem Abdul-Saboor a star football running back has earned him a berth on the U.S. Olympic bobsled team.

VSU beats VUU in Freedom Classic — again
Trey Brown is a major reason why Virginia State University is enjoying perhaps its best basketball season in program history.

Talented Griffin plays big, wins big
The University of Central Florida this season won all of its football games, going 13-0. At the same time, Knights linebacker Shaquem Griffin won the hearts of all who saw him. Griffin drew attention for two clear reasons — his aggressive, physical play and because he competes with just one hand.

Talent doesn’t fall far from family tree for Arnold Henderson VI
Some of Richmond’s prominent basketball family trees have branches stretching to St. Christopher’s School’s leafy West End campus.

VCU’s Tillman breaks out with double-doubles
At least on the basketball floor, Virginia Commonwealth University’s Justin Tillman has double the appetite of most others.

Robert M. Davis Sr., founder of construction company, dies at 74
Robert Michael Davis Sr. left his mark on hundreds of homes in Richmond and Washington. For 50 years, he was involved in building, renovating and improving residences with a quality that kept him in demand. His record in home construction and his mentorship of and encouragement to young people who worked for him to

Dorothy Olivia Fletcher Jefferson, 78, longtime financial secretary at 31st St. Baptist Church, dies
Dorothy Olivia Fletcher Jefferson performed one last service for Thirty-first Street Baptist Church when she died. She brought together a pastor and congregation that has faced division and discord.

Gospel star Edwin Hawkins dies at 74
Edwin Hawkins, the gospel star best known for the crossover hit “Oh Happy Day” and as a major force for contemporary inspirational music, died Monday, Jan. 15, 2018, at age 74.

Personality: Rhonda L. Sneed
Spotlight on founder of ‘Blessing Warriors’ who feed the homeless
Rhonda Lynn Sneed remembers how shocked she was to see people sleeping in the doorways of retail stores on Broad Street after she moved to Richmond.