Hampton takes on No.1 Kentucky in NCAA
Hampton University is in position to make basketball history. After triumphantly clinching the MEAC title and winning its first-round game in the NCAA Tournament, the Pirates will play undefeated and No. 1 overall seed University of Kentucky on Thursday, March 19, in Louisville, Ky. Hampton is the 68th and last seed overall in the NCAA tournament. CBS will televise the game about 9:40 p.m. Thursday, March 19.
‘Living Legends Concert’ brings together decades of gospel talent
Maggie Ingram wore an angelic smile, her hands tightly clasped prayer-style as she sang. She was performing with Maggie Ingram and the Ingramettes, the gospel group she founded more than six decades ago. This was the “Living Legends Concert,” and the engaged audience of about 200 people at Thirty-first Street Baptist Church was most appreciative.
Bedden pushes back
Mayor Jones’ call to close schools met with resistance
Superintendent Dana T. Bedden is politely rebuffing Mayor Dwight C. Jones’ call for closing more schools and squeezing students into the remaining buildings. Instead, Dr. Bedden and his staff are telling the School Board that the only way to close existing buildings is for the city to invest tens of millions of dollars more in new buildings that could accommodate larger numbers of students.
Warriors capture second state crown
Henrico High School has steered into basketball’s fast lane and shows no signs of slowing down any time soon. Coach Vance Harmon’s heavy-on-the-pedal Warriors sped to their second state title in three years March 14, blitzing Norview High School of Norfolk, 78-64, for the Virginia High School League’s 5A crown. Henrico High has reached three straight state finals and boasts arguably the commonwealth’s top college prospect in junior Monte Buckingham. With the one-sided win over Norview, Henrico finished the season 28-1.
Rams win Atlantic 10; head to NCAA West
The Virginia Commonwealth University Rams regained their rhythm in New York, winning four games in four days for their first Atlantic 10 Tournament title. Now the Rams must hope their “reward,” a cross-country trip to the NCAA, won’t throw them out of sync again. VCU, 26-9, is seeded seventh. They play Big 10 Conference member Ohio State University on Thursday, March 19, in the NCAA West Region game in Portland, Ore. Ohio State, 23-10, is the 10th seed.
Move may force Morrissey to lose House seat
Henrico Delegate Joseph D. “Joe” Morrissey might have to give up his current seat in the General Assembly. A provision of the Virginia Constitution would force Delegate Morrissey to resign from the House of Delegates if he proceeds, as anticipated, to challenge freshman Petersburg Sen. Rosalyn R. Dance in the 16th Senate District. It would be a startling outcome after the fight he waged to remain a delegate. He gained pariah status in the legislature because of his criminal conviction for contributing to the delinquency of a minor. The conviction left him serving in the last General Assembly session on work release from a Henrico jail.
Public safety on front burner in mayor’s budget plan
Mayor Dwight C. Jones is proposing to pour millions of dollars into wage increases for city employees, most notably police officers and firefighters. He also wants to equip the police with body cameras and modernize the 911 emergency communications system at a cost of more $50 million.
School Board gives green light to charter school
Can Richmond Public Schools afford a pricey new charter school when it already claims to need tens of millions of dollars in additional spending to renovate, maintain and equip its 44 existing schools? Schools Superintendent Dana T. Bedden doesn’t think so. His leadership team recommended against approving the Metropolitan Preparatory Academy because the charter school’s supporters have not found a building to house it. Nor have they raised substantial funds to pay for a facility.
Controversial call shoots down victory for Lady Justices in semifinals
Seven was indeed a lucky number this winter for John Marshall High School girls’ basketball, and a most unlucky number for the Justices’ foes. Quality trumped quantity for the school on Richmond’s North Side. With a bare bones roster of seven, the Justices came within a referee’s controversial call of reaching the State 3A final. “We were seven strong,” said Coach Travis Richardson, Class of 1998. “Our motto was ‘Seven deep, no sleep.’ “We were determined not to rest until we achieved our goals.”
Former VCU basketball star Lamont ‘Monty’ Knight, 54
Richmond’s Thomas Jefferson High School and Virginia Commonwealth University basketball fans remember Lamont C. “Monty” Knight as the silky smooth guard who lit up the scoreboard with his high-hanging jump shot. He also could light up a room with his warm smile. Mr. Knight was an All-Metro player under Coach Dave Robbins at Thomas Jefferson High.
VUU’s Ruth C. Harris celebrated among 2015 Virginia Women in History
Dr. Ruth Coles Harris was the first African-American woman in Virginia to be certified as a public accountant. The great-granddaughter of slaves, she passed the two-day CPA examination in 1962, when fewer than 100 African-Americans across the nation were CPAs. Dr. Harris also taught in the Commerce Department at Virginia Union University for nearly 48 years and was the first director of the Sydney Lewis School of Business.
Personality: Coach Willard J. Coker
Spotlight on the Bulldogs’ inspiring championship leader
When people get slapped down, they have two basic options. They can accept their sad fate, throw a pity party, curse at the world and stay on their backsides. Or they can bounce back. George Wythe High School Coach Willard J. Coker is a bouncer.
George Wythe wins championship
Maliek White wore George Wythe High School basketball jersey No. 1 and Brandon Holley wore No. 2. Together, they formed a knockout combination that lifted the South Richmond team to its first state championship in the school’s 55-year history.
True winners
Congratulations to the city’s and region’s scholar-athletes and their coaches who already have made February-into-March Madness a basketball season to remember! Their hours of practice and discipline on the court have translated into victories in state and conference championships that have thrilled basketball fans across Virginia and beyond.
Bedden trouble?
Dr. Dana T. Bedden, Richmond’s public schools superintendent, is probably out of here. No, it’s not because he was a runner-up and not the winner of the Boston public school system’s top job. It’s because of the latest actions by possibly the two biggest burrs under his saddle — Mayor Dwight C. Jones and the Richmond School Board. Last Friday, Mayor Jones announced a $2.8 billion budget plan for the city for the next two years. His plan includes little more for the city’s public school system than it currently receives — roughly $136 million annually for operations.
Lynch confirmation needed now
On Nov. 8, 2014, President Obama nominated an outstanding prosecutor from the Eastern District of New York to be our nation’s next attorney general. It now has been more than four months since Loretta Lynch was nominated to lead the U.S. Department of Justice — a period longer than any attorney general nominee in the last three decades.
Level the education playing field
I am saddened and frustrated every time I hear about the academic achievement gulf that exists between black students and their white classmates in our nation’s public schools. I am saddened because I know that, without a quality education, the future for these children is bleak. I am frustrated because if we don’t do something now, we will continue to fail these children in a way that will cause irreparable harm to them, their families — both current and future — our communities and the world.
Power in the word
Performing spoken word helps 15-year-old Leslie Reyes deal with the gruesome death she witnessed at age 9 of a 16-year-old friend. With a steady voice, Leslie tells a packed audience of more than 100 people that she watched her best friend die from gunshot wounds in El Salvador. She tells the room of mostly strangers about the “blood-covered gauze and stitched up holes on his shoulder and leg.”
‘Do Something’ awards presented this weekend
Twenty-one people will be honored this weekend for their impact on the Richmond community. The honorees will be presented with the first “Do Something” awards from two nonprofits, The Disciples Journey and The Dream Makers Academy. The goal of the awards is “to create an awareness of organizations and people who are making a difference and to move others to take action,” said Ervin Johnson, founder and director of the two organizations.
Broadway returns to Richmond this fall
The Grand Ballroom of Richmond’s Altria Theater was turned into a mini musical last week with a preview of the 2015-16 “Broadway in Richmond” season. About 100 subscribers to the series and media representatives were treated to lively performances by talented cast members from three of the five upcoming shows that will run from November through May at the Altria Theater. The performances had the audience dancing in their seats.
