House of Delegates
In the Richmond area House of Delegates races, we endorse the six Democratic candidates in large measure to strengthen the opposition to the GOP’s rigid vise grip on the House that has proven a disaster for average Virginians.

Top of the ticket
We cannot stress enough the importance of voting in Tuesday’s election for Virginia’s next governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general.

InLight Richmond Friday night
Richmond’s biggest light show returns to Downtown on Friday, Nov. 3, as part of the First Friday’s art walk. Dubbed InLight Richmond, the free, public event is 7 p.m. to midnight and will feature sculptures, videos, performances and other creative projects that will illuminate buildings, walls and sidewalks and will include a community lantern parade, it has been announced.

Women’s fight to vote to be topic of author’s talk
Former New York Times Editor Angela P. Dodson will talk about her new book, “Remember the Ladies: Celebrating Those Who Fought for Freedom at the Ballot Box,” at 11 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 4, at the Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia in Jackson Ward.

Documentary on restaurateur ‘The Hail-Storm: John Dabney in Virginia,’ on Nov. 2
African-American 19th century restaurateur John Dabney is being celebrated in a documentary. Field Studio will premiere “The Hail-Storm: John Dabney in Virginia” at the John Dabney Dinner, part of the Fire, Flour & Fork food festival, at 6 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 2.
Bigger stakes for VUU-VSU football rivalry
Area bragging rights and much, much more will be at stake Saturday, Nov. 4, when Virginia Union and Virginia State universities commence to popping pads at Rogers Stadium in Ettrick.

NSU freshman shot, killed off campus
Nicholas Jerome “Nick” Ackies, an 18-year-old freshman defensive lineman from Henrico County on the Norfolk State University football team, was shot and killed Friday, Oct. 27, at an off-campus apartment in Norfolk. NSU graduate Jaquan Anderson, 22, a former Spartans football player, has been arrested and charged with second degree murder and use of a fireman in commission of a felony.

VUU in exhibition game Friday with VCU at Siegel Center VUU in exhibition game Friday with VCU at Siegel Center
Virginia Commonwealth University’s Siegel Center and Barco-Stevens Hall at Virginia Union University are located about a mile apart on a Richmond map. But on the basketball court, the teams from the two Richmond schools were 50 points apart (94-44) when they met last in a 2012 exhibition.

Logan excels on slow-pitch softball circuit
Most men play slow-pitch softball for an excuse to slip out of the house, get some exercise and perhaps throw back a few cold ones with the guys.

Music legend Fats Domino dies at 89
Before the likes of Little Richard and Elvis Presley, Fats Domino helped usher in the era of rock ‘n’ roll with a pounding piano and an easy baritone that proved popular among all ages.

Robert Guillaume, stage, screen, Emmy TV star, dies at 89
Robert Guillaume rose from squalid beginnings in St. Louis slums to become a star in stage musicals and win Emmy Awards for his portrayal of the sharp-tongued butler in the TV sitcoms “Soap” and “Benson.”

Personality: Trina H. Lee
Spotlight on Leadership Metro Richmond board chair
Richmond has been home to Trina H. Lee since 1986 when her family moved here when she was in high school. After graduating from Virginia Commonwealth University and moving away for several years, Richmond pulled her back with her husband, Hugh, where they have raised two daughters.

Fallout continues over Short Pump Middle School graphic locker room video
An assistant athletic coach at Henrico County’s Short Pump Middle School has been fired and parents of some students are obtaining lawyers since the release on social media of a graphic video showing white football players on the middle school’s team simulating sex acts on at least two black teammates while shouting racist comments.

Finalists interviewed for city schools top job
Richmond soon could have a new public schools superintendent. The Richmond School Board interviewed finalists last Friday — although the names were not disclosed — and continued discussions Monday during a closed session.

St. Luke Building tagged with graffiti
The owner of the vacant St. Luke Building is furious after a brick annex attached to the historic Gilpin Court structure was vandalized with graffiti.

Va. NAACP elects new officers
The Rev. Kevin L. Chandler is the new leader of the Virginia State NAACP. The pastor of Trinity Baptist Church in South Boston, Rev. Chandler was elected president of the civil rights group Saturday at its 82nd annual convention at a Henrico County hotel.

Turnout may prove key in Va. gov. race
Now it’s up to the voters. Tuesday, Nov. 7, is Election Day — when ordinary citizens will troop to polls in Richmond and across Virginia to decide who will become the commonwealth’s 73rd governor and succeed the current chief executive, Democrat Terry McAuliffe. The main choices: Democrat Ralph S. Northam, 58, a pediatrician who specializes in children’s nerve diseases, a military veteran and the current lieutenant governor; and Republican Ed Gillespie, 56, a corporate lobbyist and former Republican Party chairman.

Dems bring out big names to get out vote
More than 150 Democratic supporters crammed into Blue Bee Cider in Scott’s Addition on Sunday to hear former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris of California campaign for Virginia’s Democratic ticket for governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general.

‘Do not sell your soul or your vote for a chicken box’
The fight for justice doesn’t end with the removal of Confederate monuments. “If the Negro is to be free, we must sign our own proclamation,” Wes Bellamy, Charlottesville’s vice mayor told the audience at the state NAACP Youth and College Division’s Leadership Breakfast on Sunday. He was quoting Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. “People give us what they want to give us because they believe it’s all that we will take,” he said. “Do not sell your soul or your vote for a chicken box.”

Lt. gov. candidates hoping to win votes
The two major party candidates seeking to become Virginia’s next lieutenant governor are hoping to make their mark in history.