Black social workers group hosts symposium April 22
The Richmond Association of Black Social Workers will present its spring 2016 education symposium, “I Am My People’s Keeper: Progressive Strategies in Dismantling the School to Prison Pipeline,” from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday, April 22, at Sixth Baptist Church, 400 S. Addison St.
Va. People’s Assembly set for Saturday
Jobs, criminal justice reform, a living wage, LGBT rights and other issues will be the focus of the 8th Annual Virginia People’s Assembly that will convene this weekend at a Richmond church, it has been announced.
Author, poet to speak April 29 at Main Library Downtown
New York Times bestselling author and poet Nikki Grimes will speak 6 p.m. Friday, April 29, at the Richmond Public Library’s Main Branch, 101 E. Franklin St. in Downtown.
Richmond Jazz Society presents Kia Bennett in concert May 10
Richmond soul and jazz singer and songwriter Kia Bennett will make her hometown debut in a 7 p.m. concert Tuesday, May 10, at Capital Ale House Downtown, 623 E. Main St.
WNBA overlooks VUU champ
Virginia Union University’s Kiana Johnson impressed just about everyone during basketball season — everyone, that is, but the WNBA scouts.
English, Johnson grab attention at Portsmouth Invitational Tourney
Before Dennis Rodman became a household name among basketball fans, he was a relative unknown at Southeastern Oklahoma State University.
Former Martinsville 7-foot-1 giant may be top pick for NBA draft
It appears Thon Maker will be playing in the NBA sooner rather than later. The 7-foot-1 native of South Sudan has been cleared for the June NBA draft, where he is a possible lottery pick. Maker and his advisers discovered a possible loophole in NBA rules allowing him to sidestep the “one and done” college process that most elite prospects have gone through. To be eligible for the NBA draft, a player must be at least 19 and one year removed from high school. Maker, having turned 19 in February, qualifies on both counts, although he is essentially still in high school in Ontario, Canada.
Tubby Smith hired to coach at Memphis
Tubby Smith, whose coaching roots can be traced to Virginia Commonwealth University, is on pace to become the most successful African-American basketball coach in NCAA Division I annals. Smith, 64, was hired last week at the University of Memphis after spending the past three years at Texas Tech University. In coaching stops at Tulsa (1991-95), Georgia (1995-97), Kentucky (1998-2007), Minnesota (2007-13) and Texas Tech, he has amassed a record of 557-276 (67 percent).
Answer to church feeding program’s prayers was down the street
When leaders at Centenary United Methodist Church in Downtown were searching for a temporary site for their Friday feeding program for the homeless and working poor, little did they know the answer to their prayers was only a few yards away.
Westwood Baptist, other groups host park cleanup
The Enrichmond Foundation is partnering with a historic West End church, a community bank and the City of Richmond to organize the cleanup of a park they call a “hidden gem” in the West End.
Stop the Violence Parade coming to Mosby Court
The Ephesus Pathfinder Club at Ephesus Seventh-day Adventist Church in South Side is organizing the first Richmond Stop the Violence Parade, it has announced.
Harlem churches see gospel tourist boom
The stern warning issued from the pulpit was directed at the tourists — most of whom had arrived late — a sea of white faces with guidebooks in hand. They outnumbered the congregation itself: A handful of elderly black men and women wearing suits and dresses and old-fashioned pillbox hats.
Funeral Monday for Wendell F. Davis
Wendell F. Davis traveled by bicycle and GRTC bus from his North Side residence to Western Henrico County on Thursday, April 14, to visit his daughter, stepdaughter and the love of his life, his 2-year-old granddaughter, Caleá.
Contractor Wilbur J. Dyer III dies at 57
Wilbur J. Dyer III had a deep-rooted entrepreneurial spirit. And he also loved to construct and build.
Personality: Brittney Maddox
Spotlight on president of Good Clear Sound
Brittney Maddox seeks to make a positive difference in the community in her role as the president of “Good Clear Sound,” a slam poetry collective at Virginia Commonwealth University.
It’s all about the ‘Tubmans’
Anti-slavery crusader Harriet Tubman will replace former President Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill, U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew announced Wednesday.
Criminal charges filed in Michigan water crisis
The Flint water crisis became a criminal case Wednesday when two state regulators and a city employee were charged with official misconduct, evidence tampering and other offenses over the lead contamination that alarmed the country and brought cries of racism.
Price of first class stamp drops by 2¢
A postage stamp now costs 47 cents — a drop of 2 cents for a first class letter.
Faith-based group out to change world for homeless students
More than 1,600 students in Richmond Public Schools are considered homeless because they lack a traditional place to live. They live in shelters with their families, bunk with relatives or on the couches of friends or find space in group homes or motels.
Petersburg shakeup continues
Irvin M. Carter Jr. has been dismissed as director of the Petersburg Finance Department in the latest city government shakeup.
