Personality: Oludare Ogunde
Spotlight on founder of nonprofit Project Give Back to Community
Facing life outside of prison can be almost as daunting as surviving life behind bars. As an ex-offender, Oludare Ogunde knows about these challenges.
RPS interim superintendent to focus on buildings, improvement plan
Thomas E. Kranz, the new interim superintendent for Richmond Public Schools, plans to focus on improving school facilities and working with state officials to make systemic changes during his six months at the helm.
Henrico County takes Essex Village owners to court
Henrico County officials are fed up with unfulfilled promises to fix Essex Village, a sprawling
RRHA steps up efforts to help residents find jobs
A Creighton Court community room packed with people seeking to learn about employment opportunities.
Free Press wins NNPA award
The Richmond Free Press continues to be recognized with national awards. The Free Press placed second for the Armstrong-Ellington Best Entertainment Section at the National Newspaper Publishers Association’s annual convention June 20 through 24 at the National Harbor outside Washington.
Ashe mural to be unveiled at Battery Park on July 12
It’s unveiling time for a new mural tribute to the late Arthur Ashe, the Richmond-born tennis star and humanitarian.
Bids on RRHA houses generate $1.4M
Bidders offered a collective $1.4 million for 26 vacant houses that the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority auctioned last week. That’s an average of nearly $54,000 per house, according to the final tally.
$2.9M
Family of Philando Castile settles in his fatal shooting by police officer
The city of St. Anthony, Minn., has agreed to pay nearly $3 million to the mother of Philando Castile, a registered gun owner who was shot to death by a police officer during a routine traffic stop although he was complying with the cop’s orders.
Morehouse College grad named new interim president
Harold Martin Jr., a 2002 Morehouse College graduate and secretary of its Board of Trustees, has been named interim president of the all-male institution that is celebrating its 150th anniversary. The board announced the selection of Mr. Martin on June 26. He replaces William J. “Bill” Taggart, who died in June from an aneurysm.
U.S. Supreme Court decisions change church-state separation, allow partial Muslim ban
The First Amendment guarantee of religious freedom has barred the government from meddling with or taxing churches and other faith-based institutions. In exchange, religious institutions generally have not been entitled to receive taxpayer funding. No more.
No fear of KKK
Charlottesville leaders, including clergy and NAACP, plan positive activities for Saturday in response to Klan protest
Charlottesville residents refuse to buckle under fear in the face of a Ku Klux Klan rally planned for Saturday in a public park.
Prospect of home ownership escapes 70-year-old Randolph resident
Charlene C. Harris hoped to buy the home in Randolph that she and her family have rented for nearly 50 years from the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority.
‘Tear those statues down’
Richmonders decry mayor’s plan to put Confederate statues ‘in context’
Ora Lomax is still fuming over Mayor Levar M. Stoney’s plans for dealing with the stone and bronze figures that have been defining symbols of Richmond for generations — the statues of Confederate defenders of slavery that punctuate Monument Avenue.
‘When is enough going to be enough?’
Re “What really happened? New details change initial police report of Mosby Court events surrounding special agent’s death,” June 8-10 edition:
Inspired by Dream Academy graduation
I really enjoyed attending the fifth commencement exercise for Dream Academy adult high school in Richmond. To hear the history of this school and how it got started, how far it has come, to where it is now, was just amazing. I too graduated from an adult high school in South Carolina in 1992 with an Honor Society award and high school diploma. So I know just how all of the students feel.
City facing crisis with violence
We are in a crisis!
Perpetuating Ashe myth
Re “Battery Park art project on tennis great Arthur Ashe to educate, elevate,” June 8-10 edition: The City of Richmond continues to perpetuate the myth that the late tennis star Arthur Ashe learned to play tennis at Battery Park.
Price of incarceration
Hip-hop legend Jay Z celebrated Father’s Day this year by allowing incarcerated fathers to spend the day with their families. Pick any day of the week in America and an estimated 700,000 people are populating our nation’s local city and county jails. Of those behind bars, 60 percent — nearly half a million people, many of whom are African-American and Hispanic — will remain in jail, not because they have been convicted of any crime, but because they are guilty of the unpardonable crime of poverty and cannot afford the court-stipulated price tag placed on their freedom.
Delays in Chemical Disaster Rule hurt minority communities
Pam Nixon lives in an area of West Virginia called “Chemical Valley,” where she is surrounded by facilities that handle dangerous toxic and flammable chemicals.
Take them down
There’s a heaping measure of ridiculousness in Mayor Levar M. Stoney’s appointment of a Monument Avenue Commission to put the statues along the street in context.
