MLK Middle School cheerleaders take the team championship at Huguenot High School during Richmond Public Schools’ 2023 All City Cheer Explosion on March 25. MLK took home the Middle School Team Performance Championship and John Marshall High School won the High School Team Performance Championship.

George Wythe High School cheerleaders entertain several hundred spectators at Huguenot High School with loud cheers and high-flying leaps and dance moves at Richmond Public Schools’ 2023 All City Cheer Explosion on March 25. Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School took home the Middle School Team performance championship, and River City Middle School and Armstrong High School won Solo performance championships.

A thrilled John Marshall High School cheering squad hears their name announced as the winners of the team championship at the 2023 All City Cheer Explosion. The squad, known as the Icettes, are coached by Shaia Scott, a former Armstrong High School cheerleader. The team was named the Grand Champs in the Portsmouth Battle Competition and placed first in Nationals in the North Carolina Stomp-N-Shake Competition.

Many driving by the corners of Staples Mill and Mountain Roads in Glen Allen have been watching and wondering what is this building going up on the 12 acres since April 13, 2020. There was a private groundbreaking with just a few church leaders because of the timing of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions then in place. The answer: It is the Richmond Virginia Temple, the 177th operating temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the first in Virginia. The architecture of the temple is a blend of Georgian, Federal and Jeffersonian architecture that are adapted from European styles. Since the Temple is quite exquisite from the outside and it causes many to imagine what it looks like on the inside, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints typically provides an open house for the communities in which they build their temples for free guided tours. The public open house is from March 25 through April 15, 2023, except for Sundays and on Saturday, April 1. The official dedication will take place May 7, 2023. A local Church spokesperson says this temple will serve at least 40,000 members from Virginia and West Virginia. This does not mean forty thousand people will be in attendance at one time. Around the state there are numerous church buildings where members of the church attend their regular Sunday services. This property also has a smaller red building that will serve as an area meeting house. Temple talking points Property size: 12 acres. Building size: 39,202 square feet. Building Height: 164 feet, 9. Inches, including the statue of the Book of Mormon prophet Moroni. Architect: The Richardson Deign Partnership. Church architect: Lanny Herron. Cost: The Church does not discuss money with the public.

Tulip debut in the West End

The 111th birthday of Richmond native and civil rights legend Dorothy Irene Height was celebrated Friday, March 24, at the Hull Street Branch Library on Richmond’s South Side and not far from where Dr. Height was born. Standing in front of a historic marker that honors Dr. Height is Barbara Crump of Glen Allen, a National Council of Negro Women member. Dr. Height was president of the NCNW for 40 years.

The program also drew Dr. Height’s great nephew, Jeffrey Randolph of Chesterfield, and members of the Richmond Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, which also hosted the event. Dr. Height served as the national sorority’s 10th president. To further honor Dr. Height, many of those in attendance wore her signature color purple.