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Trial in ‘Operation Varsity Blues’ college admissions scandal gets underway

The first full trial in the college admissions bribery scandal opened Monday with defense attorneys seeking to portray the two parents accused of buying their childrens’ way into school as victims of a con man who believed their payments were legitimate donations.

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$1.1M needed for new voting equipment

Richmond is hoping to borrow voting machines to use in the upcoming June 9 Democratic primaries. At the same time, the city voter registrar is seeking more than $1.1 million from the city government to buy new voting equipment to use in the November general election. The city is one of 30 localities facing an emergency situation involving voting machines. The upheaval is the result of Tuesday’s action by the state Board of Elections decertifying the WINVote touch-screen machines that the 30 localities have used in their elections for 10 years. The board’s action essentially bans the use of the WINVote machines in any future elections, including the June 9 primaries that will be held in Richmond and nine other localities.

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Pride Month marred by anti-LGBTQ+ bills, by Marc H. Morial

“We are powerful because we have survived, and that is what it is all about—survival and growth.” — Audre Lorde

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City Council green lights projects for 2nd Street, North Side, East End

New apartments finally could rise on the site of the former Eggleston Hotel at 2nd and Leigh streets in Jackson Ward. City Council gave a thumbs up Monday by voting 9-0 to allow the long-stalled project to receive a grant of $250,544 over seven years through the city’s Economic Development Authority. Developer Kelvin Hanson, who initially proposed Eggleston Plaza five years ago, said he hopes to have the $5.8 million project underway this summer.

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Hampton University cuts golf teams

Hampton University is discontinuing its men’s and women’s golf teams because of the financial impact of the coronavirus.

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Carol Swann-Daniels, a trailblazer integrating Richmond schools in 1960, dies at 73

Sixty-one years have passed since Carol Irene Swann, 12, and her friend, Gloria Jean Mead, 13, blasted an opening in the racially segregated schools of Richmond.

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VSU’s new homeowner program designed to make employees, community HAPI

Virginia State University’s new program that will invest thousands of dollars to help its employees become homeowners also is designed to assist the economies of Petersburg and the village of Ettrick, where the university is based, according to the university.

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What we can no longer permit, by Ben Jealous

Picture a mountain valley somewhere in the Alleghanies, Appalachians or Blue Ridge. It’s a safe bet what you just imagined didn’t include a metal pipeline more than 3 feet wide running down a steep ridge or crossing a pristine stream.

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Inflation, nutrition and reality, by Julianne Malveaux

Remember the parable of the blind men and the elephant? As each approached an elephant and tried to describe it, they came up with wildly disparate answers. One thought it a snake, another a tree, another a trunk. Because they were blind, they could not see the big picture; they described the part of the elephant they could touch.

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Commit to affordable health care, by Ray Curry

Laughter is the best medicine, says the Reader’s Digest version of America. But not when it’s the only medicine, responds the America that far too many have known and continue to know. Not when the United States alone is one of the world’s top 33 most developed countries that does not have a form of universal health care that covers all of its population.

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Judge holds Giuliani liable in Georgia election workers’ defamation case and orders him to pay fees

A federal judge on Wednesday held Rudy Giuliani liable in a defamation lawsuit brought by two Georgia election workers who say they were falsely accused of fraud, entering a default judgment against the former New York mayor and ordering him to pay tens of thousands of dollars in lawyers’ fees.

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Honeymoon over?

Plans afoot to limit mayor’s spending decisions

Richmond Mayor Levar M. Stoney’s honeymoon with Richmond City Council appears to be coming to an end. Asserting that the council needs greater control over spending, two of the newest members, Kim B. Gray, 2nd District, and Kristen N. Larson, 4th District, are planning to introduce legislation that would slap fiscal handcuffs on the mayor and his administration.

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VSU spring enrollment brings optimism

Enrollment at Virginia State University has dropped less than initially projected — good news for the school and a relief to Dr. Pamela V. Hammond, the interim president. The latest figures indicate nearly 4,500 students are en- rolled and validated as meet- ing their financial obligations. That’s about 130 students fewer than projected for the spring semester in the university’s budget. Earlier this month, Dr. Hammond and VSU’s board of visitors were advised that fewer than 4,250 students might be enrolled this semester. Dr. Hammond told the Free Press last week the higher enrollment means she will not have to consider additional personnel actions to balance the budget. After taking office Jan. 1, she ordered a freeze on hiring and other spending to stabilize finances and those freezes are still in place. She said the freezes should keep spending in line with revenue through the rest of the fiscal year.

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Howard E. Fitts Sr., former president of Robinson-Harris & Co., dies at 95

For more than 40 years, Howard E. Fitts Sr. was a key figure in buying and selling property in Richmond.

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City Council continues talks on school funding

Richmond City Council appears to be stuck between a rock and a hard place as it seeks to craft a balanced $709 million operating budget that would become effective July 1. On one side are passionate supporters of Richmond’s public schools who want the council to shift more local tax dollars into public education to avoid the potential shutdown of Armstrong High School and four elementary schools. Find the money, they say.

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Biden calls ‘surge’ in antisemitism ‘sickening’ during White House Hanukkah reception

President Biden hosted a Hanukkah reception at the White House on Monday night, vowing to continue to stand with Israel in its war with Hamas while saying that a “surge of antisemitism” around the globe “is sickening.”

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39th Annual Richmond Marathon runs on Saturday

The 39th Annual Anthem Richmond Marathon is Saturday, Nov. 12. The race could boil down to this: Benjamin Zywicki vs. the East Africans.

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Richmond native’s business has all eyes on Oprah

Oprah Winfrey has taken her look to the next level, thanks to Yolanda James, a Richmond native and eyewear boutique owner in downtown Washington.

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Area Christmas tree disposal, recycling sites announced

Now that the holiday has come and gone, Christmas tree recycling has begun in the Richmond area. The Richmond Department of Public Works has announced it will pick up trees left curbside or by Supercans through Friday, Jan. 10.

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Cherry Pick’d yields crops of good fighters, people

Cherry Pick’d Boxing & Fitness is where young people go to work up a sweat, release frustrations and get a handle on life.