McEachin, Wade on Nov. ballot
Richmond’s next congressman will either be Democrat A. Donald McEachin or Republican Michael L. “Mike” Wade. As expected, both men easily overcame rivals to win their respective party’s primary election Tuesday. They gain the right to carry their party’s banner into the November general election to represent the refashioned 4th Congressional District in Washington.
Area residents tell their brush with ‘The Greatest’
Jesse Vaughan, the Richmond native and creative genius behind Virginia State University’s recent “Building a Better World” campaign, has won 27 Emmy Awards during the course of his career.
Ramadan observed amid hardships
Muslims around the world began observing Ramadan on Monday, Islam’s holy month during which believers abstain from eating and drinking during daylight hours.
Retired judge should be honored
As we honor Henry L. Marsh III and his brother Harold M. Marsh Sr. with the renaming of the Manchester Courthouse, there is one among us who led the charge in the justice system in Richmond whom everyone seems to have forgotten. He is retired Richmond Judge Willard H. Douglas Jr.
A clear and present danger
The danger that Donald Trump, practitioner of questionable business practices, inveterate bully, racist, sexist, demagogue and the Republican Party’s presumptive nominee for president of the United States, presents to American society was never more evident than last week amid a flurry of negative news stories.
The people’s champion
Ditch the memories of Muhammad Ali showing up uninvited at Sonny Liston’s training camp, announcing that he was going bear hunting. Put aside his boasts of being the greatest of alllll-timmmme. Scratch the images of the “Ali Shuffle” and his patented rope-a-dope.
4th Congressional District primaries
On Tuesday, voters in Richmond and portions of several nearby cities and counties will go to the polls to make their choices for Democratic and Republican nominees to run for the 4th Congressional District seat.
‘Kehinde Wiley: A New Republic’ opens Saturday at VMFA
Special to the Free Press Asked what “A New Republic” means, visual artist Kehinde Wiley replies rapid-fire. “It’s a space-clearing gesture.”
Richmond’s Plunky Branch releases autobiography at June 23 event
James “Plunky” Branch’s music consistently contains elements of jazz, funk and soul linked with African concepts of “Juju” and “oneness.”
Prince autopsy report hints at puzzling painkiller mystery
The report from the medical examiner who conducted Prince’s autopsy is tantalizing for what it doesn’t say. The single-page document released last week lists a fentanyl overdose as the cause of death, but it offers few clues to indicate whether the musician was a chronic pain patient desperately seeking relief, a longtime opioid user whose habit became an addiction or a combination of both.
Ali was golden starting in 1960 Olympics
The 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome were held during the height of the bitter Cold War. Helping to ease world tension was 18-year-old Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr., just two months after his graduation from Central High School in Louisville, Ky., where he was a bit of a class clown.
Highland Springs junior vaulting toward championship
As a younger athlete, Chris St. Helen tried his luck at basketball, football and long-distance running, and he was average. Then he discovered the pole vault and he was average no more. From then on, it has been up, up and away.
VUU coach, player on ballot for College Football Hall of Fame
The College Football Hall of Fame has taken notice of Virginia Union University’s rich football history. Former Panthers Coach Joe Taylor and defensive stalwart William Dillon are on the ballot as candidates for the Hall of Fame Class of 2017.
VSU extends Blow’s contract
Virginia State University officials like what they see in basketball Coach Lonnie Blow Jr. so much so they have extended his contract through 2021.
Brothers awaiting Olympic trials after injuries
Noah Lyles has bigger fish to fry than Virginia’s 6A Track and Field Championships.
Serena screams to a halt in French Open
The real Serena Williams finally turned up at the French Open last Saturday in pursuit of a 22nd grand slam singles title. But it was to no avail.
Ali remembered in Muslim world as a voice of change
Of all Muhammad Ali’s travels in the Muslim world, his 1964 trip to Egypt was perhaps the most symbolic, a visit remembered mostly by an iconic photo of the boxing great happily shaking hands with a smiling Gamal Abdel-Nasser, Egypt’s nationalist and popular president.
President Carter pushes for interracial Baptist cooperation
Pastors Frederick Haynes and George Mason both lead Baptist churches in Dallas, but they had never met until the not-guilty verdict in the death of Florida teen Trayvon Martin brought them together in 2013.
Personality: Dr. Addie J. Briggs
Spotlight on honorary chair of ‘Jazz Inside Out’ Virginia Higher Education Fund benefit
Dr. Addie J. Briggs is accustomed to raising funds for educational causes that benefit Richmond area youth. Patients at Dr. Briggs’ Eastern Henrico pediatric practice are familiar with her passion for promoting reading among her patients. She is known as the doctor who gives each patient a book during checkups. She also has lobbied congressional representatives to provide federal funding to purchase books for thousands of Virginia children up to age 5.
VSU grad crowned Miss USA
Deshauna Barber has brains and beauty, and she’s a commander in the Army Reserve to boot. The 2011 Virginia State University graduate now adds another title: Miss USA 2016. Miss Barber, 26, who represented the District of Columbia in Sunday’s pageant at the T-Mobile Arena on the Las Vegas strip, beat contestants from 50 states to win the crown.
