Polls open Tuesday for 4th District primaries
Who will represent Richmond in Congress? Next week, voters will take the first step toward choosing a new representative to Washington. They will do so by selecting standard-bearers for the Democratic and Republican parties in a state-run primary election. Polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday, June 14.
Dr. Jones drops out
Dr. Derik E. Jones is not going to seek four more years on the Richmond School Board — opening the door to other candidates.
Customers left hanging after dry cleaner shuts down
Lonnie McLaurin took two jackets, two shirts and two pair of pants to a dry cleaner in Highland Park at the end of April. When he returned a week later to pay his bill and pick up his clothes, he hit a surprising roadblock — a padlock on the front door of the shop. He could see his clothes covered by plastic hanging on a rack in the front of the store, but no one was there to let him in.
VCU receives recommendations for remains in well
Bury them with an appropriate West African ceremony in the African Burial Ground in Downtown. That’s one of the major recommendations on what to do with the bones of 53 adults, teens and children — apparently slaves — found discarded in a capped well on the medical campus of Virginia Commonwealth University. The recommendation, along with a host of other ideas, was presented to VCU representatives Saturday during the latest session of the East Marshall Street Well Project.
Clinton primary wins assure Dem nomination
Eight years after conceding the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination to then-rival Barack Obama, the first African-American to be the standard-bearer for a major political party, Hillary Clinton is poised to make history of her own. Tuesday night, the former U.S. senator and secretary of state took her place as the Democratic Party’s presumptive presidential nominee after claiming victory over persistent U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont.
Verizon strike ends
Nearly 40,000 striking Verizon employees in Virginia and eight other states returned to work June 1 after reaching a tentative contract agreement.
Farewell to the champ
Muhammad Ali fought for justice, equality and title
More than 62 years ago, an anonymous bicycle thief in Louisville, Ky., unknowingly set in motion the amazing career of a boxing legend and remarkable world figure who would live up to his self-billing as “The Greatest.”
Washington Nats manager Dusty Baker recalls his ‘heckuva good time’ in Richmond
It has been 45 years since he last swung a bat at the former Parker Field, but Dusty Baker remembers Richmond. Graciously, Baker, the current Washington Nationals manager, granted an interview to the Free Press on May 28, prior to the Nats’ home game with St. Louis.
Winfree Cottage to get TLC, finally
The bedraggled, but historic Winfree Cottage — which now sits beside the Lumpkin’s Slave Jail site on the Richmond Slave Trail in Shockoe Bottom — is finally receiving some tender loving care in a bid to halt its decay. In the past two weeks, rotten wood has been replaced and the City of Richmond has approved a permit to allow the cottage to receive a fresh coat of whitewash and have its metal roof repainted.
City Hall cracking down on false burglar, fire alarms
City Hall is about to crack down on false alarms at homes and businesses, including halting police responses to locations that have multiple false alarms. After years of balking, Richmond City Council has given Mayor Dwight C. Jones’ administration the green light to overhaul the city’s program for dealing with false alarms — with surprising little notice to the public. Among the big changes effective July 1, private property owners with burglar and/or fire alarms will be required to obtain a permit to operate their alarms.
Inmates to mow 4 public parks
City Hall is getting some help to mow down the high grass in its parks, street medians and an array of other public property.
City budget deficit pegged at $4.1M
The City of Richmond is facing a $4.1 million deficit and likely will have to dip into savings to avoid being in the red when the books close June 30 on the current 2015-16 fiscal year. That’s according to Lenora Reid, the city’s chief financial officer.
Va. Supreme Court to hear voting rights restoration challenge July 19
The Virginia Supreme Court will not rush to hear a Republican challenge to Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s April 22 order restoring voting rights to 206,000 felons. In an order issued Wednesday, the seven-member court announced it would sit in special session on Tuesday, July 19, to hear arguments in the case aimed at deciding the governor’s authority to issue a blanket restoration of rights rather than acting on a case-by-case basis.
Va.’s fastest sprinter, Noah Lyles, running in Newport News this weekend
Track fans have one last chance to see in person the fastest sprinter in Virginia High School League history. Noah Lyles, a 5-foot-9 senior at Alexandria’s T.C. Williams High School, is the favorite to win 100-meter dash at this weekend’s state Division 6A meet at Todd Stadium in Newport News.
GOP ‘needs to cease their tireless efforts to deny and restrict folks’ from voting
I must take umbrage with the Republican majority of the General Assembly and its leadership. Once again, this partisan body of legislators has shown that it is more concerned with wasting taxpayers’ dollars in a frivolous lawsuit against Gov. Terry McAuliffe over restoration of voting rights for more than 200,000 individuals rather than providing for the medical care of 400,000 families in the Commonwealth.
Death penalty too good for Roof
Dylann Roof, the unrepentant racist who killed nine people at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C., is — no question — a monster. He prayed with people before reciting racist cants and annihilating people. After his heinous acts, it was discovered that he was a rabid racist who had wrapped himself in the Confederate flag. Does he deserve the death penalty? No.
Recommit to rid nuclear weapons
On May 27, President Obama became the first sitting president to visit Hiroshima, Japan, where, at the end of World War II, the United States became the first and only country to drop an atomic bomb. The president used the occasion to revive attention on the need to rid the world of nuclear weapons.
Lesson from ‘Roots’
The bond of family runs deep in the African-American community. Forty years and a remake have not depreciated that lesson from “Roots,” the television miniseries now playing on cable’s A&E, History and Lifetime channels.
7th Annual Richmond Jazz Festival set for Aug. 11-14
An eclectic mix of Grammy Award winners, world-class singers and musicians and local talent will highlight this year’s Richmond Jazz Festival, sceduled for Aug. 11 through 14.
New ‘Roots’ relevant to new generation
In the history of American television, there has never been anything like the original version of “Roots.” Broadcast in 1977, the miniseries based on Alex Haley’s account of tracing his enslaved ancestor Kunta Kinte back to Africa was watched by 100 million people and triggered a cultural explosion.
