Henrico Police hold meetings for faith leaders
The Henrico County Police Department is introducing a new initiative seeking to strengthen its ties with leaders of the faith community.
City cooling shelters open during high heat
The City of Richmond provides cooling shelters on days when the heat index is anticipated to reach 95 degrees or higher. Shelter locations:
Free training class for voter registration
The League of Women Voters of Metro Richmond is sponsoring its third annual voter registration training class 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 1. Location: Tuckahoe Library, 1901 Starling Drive, in Henrico County. The training is designed for community organizations and individuals seeking to conduct voter registration drives, according to organizers.
Body cameras coming
Richmond police officers could be wearing body cameras as early as this fall. Chief Alfred Durham said Tuesday the nearly 740-officer force should have about 200 body cameras purchased and ready for use by officers “by October or November.”
Getting praise, worship on at Gospel Music Fest
At age 80, gospel music icon Dorothy Norwood still can spiritually move an audience. Known as “Gospel’s greatest storyteller,” she demonstrated her star power again Sunday evening as the headliner before an overflow audience at Dogwood Dell at the 6th Annual Gospel Music Fest.
Movement grows to eradicate Confederate symbols
A growing number of Virginians are enlisting in a grassroots movement spreading across the nation to remove from the public square the vestiges of the traitors who fought against the nation during the Civil War to preserve slavery. Less than a week after South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, a bipartisan group of lawmakers and thousands of people of all ethnicities assembled July 10 to cheer the removal of the Confederate flag from the Statehouse grounds in Columbia, many Virginians are signaling they are fed up as well with Confederate symbols of hate and are saying “enough is enough.”
A mother’s grief
Catherine Uwasomba seeks clues, answers to her daughter’s disappearance, death
Catherine Uwasomba seeks clues, answers to her daughter’s disappearance, death
African-Americans need ‘psychological healing’
“We are all racists.” That’s the contention of Dr. Allen Lewis, a Henrico County resident and James Madison University professor. It’s also the provocative name of a book he has written with the subtitle, “The Truth About Cultural Bias.”
After controversy, Dr. Bedden won’t teach at VSU this fall
Richmond Public Schools Superintendent Dana T. Bedden will not be teaching a class at Virginia State University in the fall. In response to a Free Press query, RPS spokesperson Richard Davis said last Friday that Dr. Bedden has “decided against pursuing the opportunity to teach in an adjunct capacity at Virginia State University.”
From slave to legislator
Virginia’s early black lawmakers honored
James Apostle Fields started life in Virginia as a slave in Hanover County. By his death in 1903, he had gone to Hampton University, earned a law degree at Howard University and been elected to the Virginia House of Delegates.
Charles City native a first at state’s executive mansion
Kaci M. Easley is carrying on a proud family tradition of public service. Her late maternal grandmother, Iona W. Adkins, served as clerk of Charles City County Circuit Court from 1967 to 1988. She was the first African-American woman to be elected clerk of a court of record since Reconstruction. The Virginia House of Delegates honored her in a resolution shortly after her death in 2004.
‘Future Centers’ to help students with life after high school
Students in at least three of the city’s five comprehensive high schools will have new centers in their buildings this fall designed to help connect them to college and career opportunities.
Dr. David Wilkes named dean of U.Va. medical school
Dr. David S. Wilkes has been named the dean of the University of Virginia School of Medicine. He is the first African-American to be appointed to the post.
Shooting survivor carries own message of forgiveness
A Henrico County man who survived being shot eight times in 2004 — and later forgave the shooter — said he was moved to tears as family members of the nine victims of the Charleston, S.C., church massacre appeared last Friday in a Charleston courtroom and told Dylann Roof, the racist gunman, they forgave him.
Forums deliver security tips to church leaders
Richmond area faith leaders and congregation members are on heightened alert following the mass killing of nine worshippers at a historic Charleston, S.C., church last week and a frightening incident that followed at a church in South Richmond.
Richmonders show unity, seek healing at area vigils
More than 200 people from Richmond and beyond packed the sanctuary floor and balcony last Friday evening at Third Street Bethel AME Church in Downtown at a unity rally to honor the South Carolina shooting victims.
School Board votes 4-2 to back Bedden’s ‘leveling’ plan
Are arts and music programs and foreign language classes now an endangered species in some Richmond Public Schools? That’s what some School Board members, students, parents and supporters fear in the wake of Monday night’s 4-2 vote by the board to back Superintendent Dana T. Bedden’s “leveling” plan.
What’s in a name?
School Board entertains names for new middle school
Southside Middle School. Benjamin Banneker Middle School. Barack Obama Middle School. Those are just a few of the suggested names for a “new” middle school in Richmond.
Celebrating Father’s Day
What is your fondest memory of your father?
On Sunday, June 21, we celebrate Father’s Dayand all the love, lessons and gifts they give to their families and children.In honor of this special day, the Free Press asked people: What is your fondest memory of your father?
ROC changes name, hires new pastor
The Richmond Outreach Center on South Side is undergoing a makeover as it tries to move beyond the scandal-plagued “Pastor G” era.
Hillary Clinton speaking at Jefferson-Jackson Dinner
When Hillary Clinton spoke at the Democratic Party of Virginia’s annual Jefferson-Jackson dinner in Richmond in February 2008, most of the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus supported her opponent — Barack Obama — who also spoke at the event.
Protests erupt over teacher cuts, reassignments
Teachers, students, parents and supporters mobilized via social media when they learned Richmond Public Schools officials began instituting cost-cutting changes affecting the jobs of some of their most beloved teachers. “Please help!” read one urgent Facebook post.
Rayvon to sing in city this weekend
Spread the word: American Idol heartthrob Rayvon Owen is coming to Richmond this weekend.
Trial starts June 15 for former ROC pastor
Google the name Geronimo Aguilar and you’ll find articles that chronicle the rise and fall of the former Richmond Outreach Center pastor once affectionately known as “Pastor G.” An article in late 2001 asked if he was the “next great hope for Richmond’s inner city.” By May 2013, the picture turned bleak with his arrest in Texas on charges that he sexually abused an 11-year-old girl and her 13-year-old sister in the mid-1990s in Tarrant County.
Free meals available for children this summer
Children will be able to get a nutritious breakfast and lunch this summer at no charge at sites in Richmond and Chesterfield, Henrico and Hanover counties.
First 100 days
Police chief reflects on good, bad, ugly
Richmond Police Chief Alfred Durham marked his 100th day in office last Sunday. It was not the kind of day he had hoped for or envisioned.
ABA president-elect challenges ODBA for the future
The president-elect of the American Bar Association praised the trailblazing accomplishments of the historic Old Dominion Bar Association at its 75th anniversary commemorative gala banquet Saturday night at a Henrico County conference center. “Those individuals who founded the Old Dominion Bar Association are the giants that have led us to where we are today,” Paulette Brown told the audience of 150 people that included state and federal lawmakers, judges and attorneys. “We stand on their shoulders. They opened doors for us and let us know that we are capable of doing great things,” she added.
Mechanicsville pastor, church receive $50,000 renewal grant
Dr. R. Neal Siler, pastor of First Shiloh Baptist Church in Mechanicsville, is taking a leave of absence from his congregation beginning this month for some recreation, relaxation and spiritual renewal. The 63-year-old pastor, who has led First Shiloh for 27 years, is scheduled to spend time in Italy, France, Chicago and New Mexico before returning to the pulpit in mid-August.
Martin ends historic tenure as U.Va. rector
As George Keith Martin nears the end of his historic tenure as rector of the University of Virginia Board of Visitors, he is reflecting on his efforts and those of the board to broaden diversity at the Charlottesville school.
Gospel singer, songwriter plans nonprofit to help women returning from incarceration
Rhonda Aiden knows the obstacles many women experience when they are released from incarceration back into society. “It’s an overwhelming feeling,” said Ms. Aiden. The 44-year-old South Side resident said she spent a total of five years behind bars in three separate stints for writing bad checks, beginning in 2003. Her last time was from 2011 to 2012 at Deerfield Correctional Center in Southampton County.
Foster care project gets $100,000 boost
Two Richmond-based nonprofits just got a huge boost in their efforts to provide support for young people who are mandated to leave the foster care system in Virginia at age 18. The Children’s Home Society of Virginia, led by president and CEO Nadine Marsh-Carter, learned May 13 it had been selected to receive a $100,000 grant from Impact 100 Richmond to aid the “Possibilities Project,” an initiative first featured in the May 14-16 edition of the Free Press.
Golf tournament benefits MetroCare program to help families with heating bills
Al Scott is by his own admission a golf addict. “I golf religiously,” Mr. Scott, the new deputy director of the Richmond Department of Public Utilities, told the Free Press Tuesday.
Attention deficit?
Busy school superintendent wants to teach college course
Busy school superintendent wants to teach college course
Advocacy groups plan housing, services safety net for foster youths
Janeva Smith has seen many of her friends in foster care suddenly become homeless when they turn 18. They have nowhere to go, few life skills and little hope for the future. “I’ve had many friends who tried to commit suicide,” said Ms. Smith, who was 18 months old when she initially was placed in foster care in Plainfield, N.J. She was 14 when she entered foster care in Virginia, moving between foster families, group homes and shelters.
Stop the violence
Community leaders, residents march in Mosby Court for peace
Community leaders, residents march in Mosby Court for peace
Mobile home residents allege city’s actions discriminatory in HUD complaint
The City of Richmond is engaging in a discriminatory campaign to force some of its most vulnerable Latino residents from their homes through an aggressive code enforcement campaign in the mobile home parks where they live. That’s what nearly 40 current or former residents at two South Side mobile home parks are alleging.
VSU commencement
Building a better world is more than a motto
Virginia State University ended a tumultuous school year with a victorious exclamation mark at commencement Saturday at the Richmond Coliseum. More than 10,000 proud and beaming parents, friends and university members saluted as a record number of students — 764 — graduated.
School Board votes to merge Elkhardt, Thompson
With full backing from the Richmond School Board, Superintendent Dana T. Bedden pulled a rabbit out of his hat this week with a move that closes one old and decrepit middle school and changes the accreditation status at two academically struggling middle schools.
Harriet’s Place tea ministry opens in Washington Park
More than 100 colorful teapots of all shapes and sizes fill the idyllic home in the historic Washington Park community on North Side. They will serve as the centerpiece for Scripture Tea Fellowship Ministries, whose mission is to “provide spiritual, social, educational and economic empowerment in a safe place of refuge and relaxation over a cup of tea and the word of God,” according to the Rev. Jeanette Brown, the ministry’s founder.
Rayvon Owen hometown ‘Idol’
He sang for Richmond Boys Choir, took talent to national stage
Rayvon Owen’s eyes sparkled with delight. When the limousine carrying Rayvon and his mother, Patrice Fitzgerald, pulled up to the James Center in Downtown last Friday, about 1,000 cheering fans were waiting for him in the rain.
Dr. Boykin Sanders honored for distinguished career, service
Dr. Boykin Sanders wore a huge smile as he walked into the Claude G. Perkins Living and Learning Center on the campus of Virginia Union University Saturday night, where about 200 people were gathered for a reception and banquet in his honor. Attendees broke into applause as he strode in holding his 3-year-old granddaughter, Sage, in his arms. Many were his former students at VUU, where Dr. Sanders has served as a professor and mentor for the last 32 years. The event also was a celebration of Dr. Sanders’ 70th birthday.
Schools chief calls for $ to change students’ futures
In his first “State of the Schools” address, Richmond Public Schools Superintendent Dana T. Bedden told an audience of about 300 people Tuesday night that education was “my ticket out of poverty.” “Part of my childhood was spent growing up in the low-income housing of Jordan Park in St. Petersburg, Florida,” he said in an address delivered at the Claude G. Perkins Living and Learning Center on the Virginia Union University campus.
NASCAR’s big bucks stop at raceway
Twice a year, Melvin Crawley Jr., owner of Crawley’s Funeral Home on Meadowbridge Road on North Side, opens his business parking lot and an adjoining property to NASCAR fans, where they park their vehicles for race weekends at Richmond International Raceway.
Education battle cry: Put kids first!
“Put kids first!” A diverse gathering of educators, parents and students made that impassioned plea at a rally Saturday organized by the Virginia Education Association and the Virginia PTA.
School Board weighs options to close schools
Richmond Public Schools is considering a seismic shift in how it attempts to solve overcrowding issues and meet other pressing demands related to its burgeoning student population. For the first time, Superintendent Dana T. Bedden and his leadership team are publicly admitting they could close up to six school buildings and move those students into existing schools even if no new buildings are constructed. Those findings are part of the thick new Richmond Public Schools Facilities Needs Report, which focuses on current and future building needs.
A war hero comes home
After 64 years, Cpl. Lindsey C. Lockett laid to rest with full military honors
Sixty-four years after Army Cpl. Lindsey Clayton Lockett died from insufferable conditions in a prisoner of war camp in North Korea, his remains were brought home and laid to rest in an emotional ceremony Saturday in Richmond, surrounded by tearful but proud family members.
