All results / Stories / Free Press wire reports
Census data show Virginia’s population up by 7.9%
Virginia’s population grew over the past decade, but not enough to gain an additional seat in Congress, according to new figures released by the U.S. Census Bureau on Monday.
Muslim firefighter settles lawsuit
A Muslim firefighter who said he was subjected to firehouse harassment over his faith and race, including being fed pork in violation of his religious beliefs, has settled his lawsuit against New York City.
’Who We Are’ offers a searing view of racism in U.S.
“If you’ve ever owned a slave, please raise your hand,” Jeffery Robinson asks a live audience at the beginning of “Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America,” a searing documentary based on a lecture he has spent a decade perfecting.
2016 General Assembly ends with bipartisan consensus on budget, other measures
The 2016 General Assembly session is over — ending last Friday, a day early, on a high note of accomplishment. The hectic 59 days produced a landmark compromise on gun laws and a new state budget providing a dramatic boost in spending on public education and offering pay hikes for state workers and lawmakers.
Lawmakers hear the case for reparations
The debate over reparations catapulted from the campaign trail to Congress on Wednesday as lawmakers heard impassioned testimony for and against the idea of providing compensation for America’s history of slavery and racial discrimination.
Priest caught in political fire reinstated as House chaplain
Speaker of the House Rep. Paul Ryan has announced he will reinstate the Rev. Patrick Conroy as chaplain for the House of Representatives after the controversial Jesuit priest challenged the stated rationale for removing him.
Michael Jordan donating $100M to racial equality and social justice organizations
Basketball legend Michael Jordan and the Jordan Brand are giving $100 million to organizations dedicated to promoting racial equality and social justice.
Closure pending as Bennett College loses accreditation
After two years of probation, Bennett College, one of just two historically black private women’s colleges in the country, has lost its accreditation, threatening the 145-year-old school’s survival.
Bloomberg gives $100M to historically Black medical schools
Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is giving about $100 million to four historically Black medical schools over the next four years, with students getting up to $100,000 apiece.
Alabama law protecting Confederate statues remains in effect during appeal
An Alabama law that prohibits cities from removing Confederate monuments will remain in effect while the state appeals a judge’s ruling that declared the statute constitutional, the Alabama Supreme Court ruled last month.
Judge dismisses effort to remove state Sen. Louise Lucas
A Chesapeake judge swiftly rebuked a conservative group’s effort July 2 to remove a Black state senator from office over her role in a protest that ended with heavy damage to a Confederate monument in Portsmouth.
Scalia’s death sets up showdown over high court
Conservative U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia has died, setting up a major political showdown between President Obama and the Republican-controlled Senate over who will replace him just months before a presidential election.
Florida votes to replace Confederate statue in Congress with one of Mary McLeod Bethune
Florida could soon help diversify the U.S. Capitol’s Statuary Hall by replacing a Confederate general’s likeness with the hall’s first statue honoring an African-American woman.
Pandemic forcing Black morticians to bury their own in profession
When the last mourners departed and funeral director Shawn Troy was left among the headstones, he wept alone.
Patrick Ewing returns to Georgetown
Patrick Ewing is returning to Georgetown University, and boy are the Hoyas happy! On Monday, university officials announced that Ewing, who as a player helped build the school into a national powerhouse in the 1980s, would be back on campus.
Trumpeter Roy Hargrove dies at 49
Trumpeter Roy Hargrove, a prolific player who provided his jazz sound to records across a vast range of styles and won two Grammys, has died at age 49.
Janet Jackon doc, despite criticism, a hit for Lifetime
Janet Jackson’s four-part documentary on Lifetime was the network’s most-watched non-fiction show since “Surviving R. Kelly” three years ago, and viewership is continuing to grow.
Questions, lawsuit arise as Va. ratifies ERA
Virginia became the last state needed to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment on Tuesday as the state Senate approved on a 27-12 vote a House of Delegates resolution endorsing an amendment to the U.S. Constitution stating that the rights of women “shall not be denied or abridged” because of their gender.
Feds sue Stafford County over law blocking Islamic cemetery
The U.S. Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit against a Virginia county for “imposing restrictive zoning requirements” that blocked an Islamic nonprofit from building a cemetery.
Baton Rouge works to heal after shootings
BATON ROUGE, LA. On the affluent south side of Baton Rouge, a clutch of plastic balloons bobs in front of the gas station where a former Marine shot and killed three police officers last Sunday. On the impoverished north
