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Kaine’s history readies him for VP role
He has been Richmond’s mayor, Virginia’s governor and a U.S. senator. Now Sen. Timothy Michael Kaine — whom everyone calls “Tim” — has leaped to the national stage as Democrat Hillary Clinton’s running mate.
Derek Chauvin sentenced to 22 ½ years in murder of George Floyd
Not enough. That was the sentiment of the late George Floyd’s family members after former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chau- vin was sentenced late last week to 221⁄2 years in prison for the murder of Mr. Floyd in May 2020.
Rapper DMX dies at 50
DMX, the iconic hip-hop artist behind the songs “Ruff Ryders’ Anthem” and “Party Up (Up in Here)” whose distinctively gruff voice and thoughtful messages in his rhymes made him one of rap’s biggest stars, has died, according to a family statement Friday, April 9, 2021. He was 50.
Jason Mott, Tiya Miles win National Book Awards
Jason Mott’s “Hell of a Book,” a surreal meta-narrative about an author’s promotional tour and his haunted past and present, has won the National Book Award for fiction—a plot twist Mr. Mott did not imagine for himself.
Federal court blocks Trump’s travel ban
The fate of President Trump’s order to ban travelers from six predominantly Muslim nations, blocked by federal courts, soon may be in the hands of the conservative-majority U.S. Supreme Court, where the president’s appointee, Justice Neil Gorsuch, could help settle the matter.
Not again
Wisconsin man, 29, paralyzed after being shot in the back Sunday by police as his children watched
Suddenly there is a new name and a new face to remind people that the lesson of George Floyd has not sunk in among many in the police rank and file.
Senate fails to remove Trump from office
President Trump won acquittal Wednesday in the U.S. Senate, bringing to a close only the third presidential impeachment trial in American history. The votes split the country, tested civic norms and fed the tumultuous 2020 race for the White House.
Rep. Cummings remembered as ‘fierce champion’
First African-American lawmaker to lie in state at Capitol
Rep. Elijah E. Cummings was eulogized as a leader with the fiery moral conviction of an Old Testament prophet at a funeral last Friday that brought former presidents and ordinary people alike to the Baltimore church where the congressman worshipped for four decades.
Inequality persists 50 years after landmark Kerner Commission report
Barriers to equality are posing threats to democracy in the United States as the country remains segregated along racial lines and child poverty worsens, according to a study examining the nation 50 years after the release of the landmark 1968 Kerner Report.
Single mom goes from nearly $100,000 debt to savings
When Takiia Anderson graduated from Boston College Law School in 1999, she was a single mom with a 2-year-old, nearly $100,000 in student loans and a new job as a government attorney that paid $34,102 a year.
White nationalist rally sputters in D.C. on anniversary of bloody Charlottesville protest
A white nationalist rally in the heart of Washington drew two dozen demonstrators and thousands of chanting counterprotesters last Sunday, the one-year anniversary of deadly, racially charged violence in Charlottesville, Va.
Priest aids in Mugabe relinquishing power
Zimbabwe’s former President Robert Mugabe knew it was “the end of the road” days before he quit, and appeared relieved when he signed his resignation letter after 37 years in power, said a Catholic priest who mediated talks leading to his removal from office.
Lt. Gov. Fairfax files $400M defamation suit against CBS
Lt. Gov. Justin E. Fairfax is suing CBS for $400 million, claiming the company defamed him when it broadcast interviews with two women he said have falsely accused him of sexual assault.
‘New America’ prevails in U.S. Supreme Court’s historic decisions
Old America largely conceded to New America in the latest round of major U.S. Supreme Court decisions. New America is the coalition that came to power with President Obama in 2008 and gave him the winning majority. It’s a coalition of groups marginalized for most of U.S. history: African-Americans, Latinos, religious minorities, young people, gays, single mothers, working women and Americans who claim no religious affiliation.
Athlete power: ‘Shut up and play’ is tossed from the game
The sports world came to a halt last week as leagues postponed professional men’s and women’s basketball games, football practices, soccer matches, baseball games, hockey playoffs and tennis competitions as players protested the shooting of a Black man by police in Kenosha, Wis.
Metropolitan Opera makes history with first work by a Black composer
“We bend, we don’t break. We sway!” sings the chorus in the second act of Terence Blanchard’s “Fire Shut Up in My Bones.”
NYC reaches $4.1M settlement in fatal police shooting
New York City reached a settlement of more than $4 million with the family of an unarmed man fatally shot by a police officer in a darkened stairwell nearly two years ago, the attorney for the family said Tuesday.
Bobbi Kristina’s autopsy shows mixture of drugs, alcohol
Bobbi Kristina Brown’s autopsy report contained evidence of recent cocaine use by the daughter of Bobby Brown and the late Whitney Houston before she was found unresponsive in a bathtub in her home last year. But a medical examiner’s office said last Friday it could not establish whether her death after months in a coma was accidental or intentional. Ms. Brown suffered brain damage and died of pneumonia resulting from drug intoxication and her face being immersed in water, the Fulton County Medical Examiner said.
Lt. Gov. Justin E. Fairfax launches campaign for governor
Lt. Gov. Justin E. Fairfax formally kicked off his campaign for governor last Saturday, a year after facing two allegations of sexual assault.
Serena Williams wins Auckland Classic; donates money to help bushfire victims
Former world No. 1 tennis star Serena Williams won the World Tennis Association’s Auckland Classic last Sunday — her first title since 2017 — and immediately donated her prize money to aid victims of Australia’s deadly bushfires.
