Movement grows to eradicate Confederate symbols
A growing number of Virginians are enlisting in a grassroots movement spreading across the nation to remove from the public square the vestiges of the traitors who fought against the nation during the Civil War to preserve slavery. Less than a week after South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, a bipartisan group of lawmakers and thousands of people of all ethnicities assembled July 10 to cheer the removal of the Confederate flag from the Statehouse grounds in Columbia, many Virginians are signaling they are fed up as well with Confederate symbols of hate and are saying “enough is enough.”
A mother’s grief
Catherine Uwasomba seeks clues, answers to her daughter’s disappearance, death
Catherine Uwasomba seeks clues, answers to her daughter’s disappearance, death
40 rooms added to veterans care center
A state-supported nursing home for veterans opened 40 new private rooms Wednesday at its location in South Side.
View online how tax dollars are spent
Want to know how the city is spending your tax dollars? Jump on your computer and go to this website — www.data.richmondgov.com.
City distributing new recycling cans
The big recycling push is on in Richmond. On Monday, the city Department of Public Works began distributing 95-gallon recycling cans. The new cans are bright green with blue tops.
Good Samaritan Ministries opens summer camp
Pastor Michael D. McClary has spent nearly 30 years helping alcoholics and drug users in Richmond follow the Christian road to recovery that transformed him from an addict to a minister. The 65-year-old minister has undertaken the effort as the founder and executive director of the nonprofit Good Samaritan Ministries on South Side.
‘God alone has the power to bind couples’
Re “Go further,” July 2-4 edition: The Confederate flag must go from government grounds, but states need not ban any symbol, even the Confederate flag, from license plates. Such symbols are important identifiers, especially when such symbols have been definitively defined. Individuals should be permitted to self identify and express themselves.
Relocating rebel statues doesn’t change memory or attitude
Re: Letter to the editor “Free Press founder was right about Monument Avenue,” July 2-4 edition: I agree that Confederate flags should not adorn any government property, although I beg to differ with the opinion of the letter writer, Ben Ragsdale, and the opinion previously expressed by Free Press founder, the late Raymond H. Boone, about Monument Avenue.
Protest those who support neo-Confederates
The Sons of Confederate Veterans claims the Confederate flag is heritage. The United Daughters of the Confederacy makes similar claims. They claim not to be racist and to be against extremist groups.
Mobility in more ways than one
If you had to guess the single strongest factor in determining who escapes poverty, what do you think it would be? Perhaps surprisingly, the answer is transportation.
Free Press exposé propelled fight against racist flag
It was mid-summer 1992. A black airman with the Virginia Air National Guard walked into the Richmond Free Press newsroom and asked to see a reporter.
Real innovation?
Last week, we published articles about two promising programs involving Richmond Public Schools. First, Mayor Dwight C. Jones shone a spotlight on the “Future Centers” that are to be opened at three of Richmond’s high schools.
A just outcome
Here’s good news: A big hotel in Charlotte, N.C., that ripped off people attending the 2015 CIAA basketball tournament in the spring is being forced to return its ill-gotten gains.
Federal recognition for Pamunkeys brings tribe closer to nationhood
Defeated in battles with the English invaders who took their land, the Pamunkey Indians have been on a reservation and under the thumb of Virginia’s government for more than 350 years — long before there was a state. Now the dwindling descendants of Pocahontas, Powhatan and other members of the tribe that met the first English settlers to Jamestown in 1607 are one step closer to gaining their independence — and separation from Virginia.
40 years later
Ashe’s shining win at Wimbledon
The late Arthur Ashe Jr.’s iconic tennis career reached a summit 40 years ago on the pristine grass of Centre Court at the All-England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club in London. The occasion was the 89th staging of the Wimbledon tennis championships. And on this Fourth of July weekend in 1975, the Richmonder — just a week from his 32nd birthday — stunned tempestuous, heavily favored defending champion Jimmy Connors in a tense final.
African-Americans need ‘psychological healing’
“We are all racists.” That’s the contention of Dr. Allen Lewis, a Henrico County resident and James Madison University professor. It’s also the provocative name of a book he has written with the subtitle, “The Truth About Cultural Bias.”
Shop for Success set for July 18
Dress for Success Central Virginia is holding its signature shopping event for the public Saturday, July 18, at its boutique in the basement of Boulevard United Methodist Church, 321 N. Boulevard, it has been announced. It is called “Shop for Success.”
Fundraiser set to send girls to Brazil
Twenty girls from the Richmond area have high hopes they’ll be able to travel to Brazil in August to participate in the “Essence of a Goddess” cultural study program.
Latin jazz festival at Dogwood Dell
Latin jazz is set to take over Byrd Park this Saturday, July 11.
Serena beats Venus, continues streak
The heavy hitting shook the ground and the volume would have raised the Centre Court roof had it been closed, as Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka traded blows like a couple of prizefighters at Wimbledon on Tuesday.
