Downtown to light up Friday with 33rd Annual Grand Illumination
Christmas bells will ring, carolers will sing and Santa will arrive on his sleigh during holiday events this week in Downtown. Hundreds of people of all ages are expected at the 33rd Annual Grand Illumination at the James Center, a free event that has become a holiday party around the lighting of Downtown buildings.
Soul Santa arrives Saturday at Black History Museum
Soul Santa will spend two Saturdays at the Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia in Jackson Ward. From noon to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 2, and Saturday, Dec. 9, Soul Santa will listen to children’s holiday wishes and pose for holiday pictures with youngsters.
VUU winter concert Nov. 30
The Virginia Union University Choir and the VUU Community Orchestra will present its free winter concert, “Christmas at Virginia Union University 2017, The Miracle on Lombardy Street III,” at 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 30, in Coburn Hall on the campus, 1500 N. Lombardy St.
VUU leaning on big men for big success on the basketball court
In keeping with its storied basketball past, big men abound at Virginia Union University. Coach Jay Butler is blessed with multiple low-post options in his third season on the Lombardy Street campus. Three have taken turns sharing accolades thus far, and a promising fourth will be debuting soon.
London, Broadway finalists for Robinson Award
Coaches Michael London of Howard University and Rod Broadway of the MEAC football champions North Carolina A&T State University are finalists for the Eddie Robinson Award.
VCU Rams return from Maui Invitational to face a ‘Bermuda Triangle’ of opponents
Virginia Commonwealth University is one of only eight schools to have reached the NCAA basketball tournament at least seven consecutive seasons.
Richmond Roughriders in new league
The Richmond Roughriders have joined a new league — hopefully offering stronger competition — for the 2018 arena football season. Starting next spring, the Roughriders will compete in the American Arena League, or AAL, a 12-team conference stretching from Vermont to Florida.
Della Reese, star of TV show ‘Touched by an Angel,’ dies at 86
Actress and singer Della Reese, best known for her role as Tess, the wise angel in the long-running television drama “Touched by an Angel,” has died at her California home.
Warren ‘Pete’ Moore, original vocalist, songwriter with The Miracles, dies at 79
Warren “Pete” Moore, a vocalist and songwriter with Smokey Robinson and The Miracles, died Sunday, Nov. 19, 2017, in Las Vegas on his 79th birthday.
‘Cosby Show’ actor dies at 91
Earle Hyman, a veteran actor of stage and screen who was widely known for playing the father of Bill Cosby’s character on “The Cosby Show,” has died.
Pioneering jazz singer Jon Hendricks succumbs at 96
Jon Hendricks, the pioneering jazz singer and lyricist who, with the trio Lambert, Hendricks and Ross, popularized the “vocalese” singing style in which words were added to instrumental songs, has died. He was 96.
Judge approves RCC sale to UNCI
As anticipated, the Richmond-based United Nations Church International has been approved to purchase the 5-acre Richmond Christian Center property in South Side
Priest aids in Mugabe relinquishing power
Zimbabwe’s former President Robert Mugabe knew it was “the end of the road” days before he quit, and appeared relieved when he signed his resignation letter after 37 years in power, said a Catholic priest who mediated talks leading to his removal from office.
Personality: Kathryn Wall
Spotlight on board chair of Children’s Home Society of Va.
Kathryn Wall has always loved children. After meeting Nadine Marsh-Carter, CEO of the Children’s Home Society of Virginia, and being overwhelmed by some of the stories about youngsters that were shared, Ms. Wall was inspired to get involved. She is chair of the nonprofit Richmond/organization’s board of directors, a volunteer position she loves.
Racial disparity in health care
Recognizing problem is Rx for change
The headlines about health problems plaguing the African-American community are frequent and alarming. From diabetes to hypertension and heart disease, to asthma and certain types of cancer, the statistics are clear: Black people suffer from a multitude of chronic health conditions and at a rate higher than other racial and ethnic groups.
Opponents fear Main Street Station plans will run over slave memorial
Hopes of creating a memorial park in Shockoe Bottom recalling Richmond’s role as a center of the slave trade appear to conflict with efforts to make Main Street Station a more significant passenger rail stop.
Neo-Confederates to return for second Richmond rally
A neo-Confederate group plans to return to Richmond next month for a second “Heritage Not Hate” rally on Monument Avenue, despite new state regulations restricting firearms and the number of people allowed at rallies at the Gen. Robert E. Lee monument. CSA II: The New Confederate States of America, a Tennessee-based group, “will hold their rally on Richmond City property outside of the traffic circle surrounding the Lee monument in the same location of the Sept. 16 rally,” Thomas Crompton, a rally organizer, told the Free Press on Wednesday.
Lawsuit alleges RRHA overcharged thousands of public housing residents
Has the landlord for Richmond’s public housing residents been ripping off its tenants? Yes, according to the nonprofit Legal Aid Justice Center, the poor people’s law firm with offices in Richmond, Charlottesville and Falls Church.
GRTC to honor Rosa Parks Friday
GRTC will honor civil rights legend Rosa Parks on the 62nd anniversary of her defiant refusal to give up her seat on a public transit bus in Montgomery, Ala., ultimately leading to the U.S. Supreme Court upholding a lower court ruling that racially segregated seating on public transportation is illegal.
Wedding bells for Meghan Markle and Prince Harry
It looks like a fairy tale ending for Meghan Markle, the American actress best known for her role in the television legal drama “Suits.” Ms. Markle and Britain’s Prince Harry announced on Monday they are getting married next year, saying their relationship had blossomed “incredibly quickly” after meeting on a blind date.
