Thursday, January 28
VEA president learns a hard lesson about COVID-19
Dr. James J. Fedderman is a career educator, but he’s learned more than he cares to know about COVID-19.
Biden nominates Virginia official, former VSU dean, to key USDA post
Dr. Jewel H. Bronaugh is heading to Washington to help run the U.S. Department of Agriculture after nearly three years of leading Virginia’s agricultural agency.
President Biden begins work on unfinished business of Trump administration
President Biden’s launch this month of a series of ambitious goals focused on resetting the nation’s agenda is being steadily packed with suggestions he include the endless list of unresolved issues left on the table by the last president.
Skipping school
Data show that 40% to 60% of Richmond area teachers are absent from the classroom 11 or more business days a year
Students always seem to be the focus of concern when the discussion centers on the ill effects of class-cutting, truancy and chronic absenteeism on education.
Mayor Stoney has COVID-19; state of city address postponed
Mayor Levar M. Stoney announced Wednesday that he has tested positive for COVID-19 and is in a 14-day isolation after developing mild symptoms.
Parents say 4-year contract for Kamras would provide stability
For decades, Richmond Public Schools has struggled to keep a superintendent and administration in place for more than five years.
Crusade supports 2-year contract for Kamras with benchmarks
The Richmond Crusade for Voters recently considered the matter before the Richmond School Board regarding contract negotiations with Richmond Public Schools Superintendent Jason Kamras.
Healing a divided America, by Dr. Keith Magee
A white man strolled into an office, settled down in a leather chair and casually put his dirty boots on the desk in front of him.
Two more years
We add our voice to those who believe Richmond Public Schools Superintendent Jason Kamras should have no more than a two-year contract extension.
Fredericksburg man carries on legacy of James Farmer
Christopher Williams works daily to carry on the legacy of the late civil rights leader James Farmer.
VCU names fine arts building after late dean Murry N. DePillars
The Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts has dedicated its fine arts building to its late dean, Dr. Murry N. DePillars.
Former Virginia Squires and NBA player George Carter succumbs at 76
George Carter, a former ABA All-Star with the Virginia Squires, died Nov. 18, 2020.
NY Jets’ Robert Saleh first Muslim head coach in NFL
Robert Saleh is the first Muslim to become a head coach in the NFL.
HU’s Davion Warren among the state’s Division I top scorers
If one can imagine basketball as a track relay, Jermaine Marrow has handed the baton to Davion Warren at Hampton University.
Former Lady Panthers coach accused of abuse by Detroit Mercy players
Coach Ann Marie Gilbert, who took the Virginia Union University Lady Panthers to the NCAA Division II championship game in 2017 before leaving last April for the University of Detroit Mercy, has run into major problems.
Super Bowl LV will be a match between old and new QB stars
The Greatest of All Time vs. the next Greatest of All Time — Tom Brady vs. Patrick Mahomes.
Settlement allows candidates to gather fewer signatures to run for statewide office
With the pandemic still raging, candidates for governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general will face far lower requirements to qualify for primary and general election ballots, including collecting 80 percent fewer petition signatures from registered voters.
Henrico to hold $10 rabies clinic Feb. 13
The Henrico County Police will provide rabies vaccines for dogs and cats from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, Feb. 13 at the Henrico County Government Center, 4301 E. Parham Road.
Advocates see ending the death penalty as step toward addressing inequity
Virginia is on track to become the first Southern state to abolish the death penalty.
City General Assembly reps to face primary challengers
Three of the Democratic delegates representing Richmond in the General Assembly will have to get by challengers in the upcoming June 8 primary to keep their seats.
City Council approves new tax amnesty programs
Wait until March to pay any overdue taxes on homes and other real estate to avoid paying interest and penalties as well.
ACLU lawsuit against police action during summer protest dismissed
A Richmond Circuit Court judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia against the Virginia State Police, the Richmond Police Department and the City of Richmond for actions taken against protesters during a “teach-in” last summer on police brutality and community action.
Judge O’Berry apparently out
Judge Pamela O’Berry’s 12-year tenure on theChesterfieldCountyGeneralDistrictCourt likely will end Wednesday, March 31.
Cityscape
Slices of life and scenes in Richmond
On Monday, the same day that state workers began installing fencing around the statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee on Monument Avenue in Rich- mond, a few landowners trying to prevent the statue’s removal filed their long-awaited appeal with the Virginia Supreme Court.
Vaccine supply, distribution problems frustrate area residents
Virginia’s teachers, grocery store workers and the elderly are facing delays in getting inoculated against COVID-19. A sharp reduc- tion in the supply of vaccine has left local health departments, including Richmond’s and Henrico’s, without enough doses to meet demand.
Photojournalist from Richmond to have a front row to history – again
Richmond native and photojournalist Lawrence Jackson, who served as an official White House photographer during the Obama administration, will again capture the news and private moments of the nation’s top leaders.
Black History Month events calendar 2021
A variety of events are planned in and around Richmond for Black History Month.
Beloved slugger, MLB Hall of Famer Hank Aaron dies at 86
Growing up poor in Mobile, Ala., during the Great Depression, Hank Aaron began playing baseball by hitting bottle caps with sticks.
Rev. Raphael Warnock, now U.S. senator, said he heard ‘echoes of the spirit’ in swearing-in
On the first Sunday after he became a U.S. senator from Georgia, the Rev. Raphael Warnock described his election and the changing scene at the U.S. Capitol — from insurrection to inauguration — as forms of divine messaging.
Algenon L. Brown, longtime educator and member of the Capital Region Airport Commission, dies at 95
Algenon L. Brown, a career educator in Richmond for 36 years who also fought for Black business inclusion in the operation and development of the Richmond International Airport, has died.
Personality: Robin Watson Telfian
Spotlight on founder of local nonprofit Shood (Shoes for Good)
A casual soup kitchen conversation led 50-year-old Robin Watson Telfian to start a non-profit .
Thursday, January 21
6 people, organizations receive awards at VUU’s MLK Community Leaders Celebration
The values of inclusion and diversity, public service, hope and progress were the themes of Virginia Union University’s 43rd Annual Community Leaders Celebration honoring the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
A new day
We revel in the glow surrounding the Jan. 20 inauguration of President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Vice President Kamala Harris, and the historic “firsts” it represents for our nation: Vice President Harris, the highest-ranking woman ever elected in U.S. government; the first woman vice president in the nation’s history; the first African-American and first South Asian ever to become vice president.
Time for GOP to examine itself
The violent storming of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 was a repulsive display of evil, not a peaceful demonstration that is emblematic of America, and we condemn it in the strongest terms possible.
Good Samaritan shows there’s hope
On Jan. 16, my brother, sister and I went to World of Beers restaurant in Short Pump to celebrate my brother’s birthday. The atmosphere and food was great.
Trump must be convicted and barred from holding future office, by Rep. A. Donald McEachin
On Jan. 6, the president of the United States incited a violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, fueled by a mob that he urged via social media to come to Washington to “fight like hell” to “stop the steal” and prevent Congress from fulfilling our constitutional duty to certify the election of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
Movement for justice must not be silent, by Jesse L. Jackson Sr.
On Monday, we celebrated Dr. Martin Luther King’s 91st birthday. On Wednesday, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were inaugurated as president and vice president, promising change after a dark period of division.
Gun prohibition needs to be applied
Once again, citizens of the city of Richmond avoided Downtown on the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday as a group of white supremacists smelled their musk and paraded in soldier costumes, flaunting assault weapons, each having a magazine of 30 to 40 bullets.
Elected officials must be held accountable for Jan. 6
I’m a U.S. Marine Corps veteran from Chesterfield. And as someone who gave years of my life to defend our democracy, I must speak out about the disgraceful coup attempt that we witnessed on Jan. 6 in Washington.
America’s new day
President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Vice President Kamala Harris are sworn into office in an uplifting ceremony
President Joseph R. Biden Jr. issued a ringing call to the nation and began throwing out the damaging, corrosive policies of his predecessor after being sworn into office Wednesday along with his history-making vice president, former U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris of California.
’We need this to get back to normal’
It has been months since Annette Johnson has seen her grandmother in person.
Personality: Jeffrey M. Gallagher
Spotlight on board chairman of Virginia Repertory Theatre
The largest producing theater in Central Virginia. The first theater to perform a live theater production before an integrated audience in post-Reconstruction Virginia in defiance of Jim Crow laws. Those are major milestones in the history of Virginia Repertory Theatre, which traces its early roots back to 1953 through the Barksdale Memorial Theatre at Hanover Tavern.
Thomas H. Francis, whose political skills aided candidates in Chesterfield and elsewhere, dies at 77
For decades, Thomas Henry Francis pushed to make inroads for Democrats in Republican-controlled Chesterfield County where he lived most of his life.
Fourth Baptist Church tumult raises concern among congregation
Started in 1859 before the Civil War, Fourth Baptist Church is now a venerable beacon of Christian faith in Church Hill and the fountainhead from which nine other area churches have sprung. But a major dispute between the current pastor and a large portion of the membership over the church’s organizational structure is threatening to tear apart the 300-member congregation as Fourth Baptist prepares to mark its 162nd anniversary.
Monacan’s Kendrick Warren Jr. may be the next ‘Special K’
The “Kendrick Warren Show, Part 2” is coming soon to a basketball court near you.
Keep moving forward: VSU panel reflects on Dr. King’s words
U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner said the storming of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 directly op- poses all that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. stood for. “Unfortunately a little over a week ago, we saw incredible hordes of thugs invade the United States Capitol (and) try to take the law into their own hands in a way that was the antithesis of everything Dr. King stood for,” Sen. Warner said Monday in video remarks kicking off a Martin Luther King Jr. Day event at Virginia State University that was broadcast online.
Area AKAs celebrate VP Harris’ inauguration
Members of six area Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority chapters put on their pearls and Chuck Taylor sneakers Wednesday evening and celebrated the inauguration of their sorority sister, Vice President Kamala Harris, with a Zoom event on Wednesday, Jan. 20, from 6:08 to 7:08 p.m., homage to the sorority’s founding in 1908 at Howard University. The newly inaugurated vice president is a Howard University alumna.
Another double standard? Police seize firearms from Black men, but not whites, at Lobby Day
Police stopped a car of Black men and confiscated two of their guns at Virginia’s annual “Lobby Day” on Monday, while white gun rights activists defied local laws unimpeded in the state capital of Richmond.
State Police to probe handling of city contract to remove rebel statues
Did Mayor Levar M. Stoney violate the state’s procurement law when his administration provided a sole-source emergency contract worth $1.8 million to remove city-owned Confederate statues?
School Board to start work on Kamras’ proposed $341M budget
Richmond Public Schools Superintendent Jason Kamras presented to the School Board Tuesday night a $341 million proposed budget for the next fiscal year.
Va. Senate moving against GOP Sen. Amanda Chase
The state Senate is lowering the hammer on GOP Sen. Amada Chase of Chesterfield for speaking and whipping up the crowd at a pro-Trump rally in Washington on Jan. 6 before the mob stormed the U.S. Capitol.
Chesterfield Judge Pamela O’Berry in jeopardy of losing seat on bench
Judge Pamela O’Berry, currently the longest-serving Black judge in Chesterfield County, is facing removal after 12 years on the bench in Chesterfield General District Court.
Two-night MLK symposium to feature community leaders panel
A two-night, virtual public symposium on the topic “Strength- ening the Black Community: Where Do We Go From Here?” will be held 6:30 to 8 p.m. Monday, Jan. 25, and Tuesday, Jan. 26, it has been announced.
Doris E. Day, a longtime educator and librarian, dies at 71
Doris Day influenced the lives of thousands of children as a teacher and school librar- ian for more than 40 years in Richmond and Chesterfield County.
Sandra K. Martin, assistant superintendent of the James River Juvenile Detention Center, dies at 63
Sandra Kaye Martin, who spent nearly 35 years helping troubled youths in the Richmond region find the pathway to success, has died. Ms. Martin, 63, succumbed to illness on Sunday, Jan. 10, 2021.
Rev. William Barber II to preach at inaugural interfaith prayer service
The Washington National Cathedral will host a virtual iteration of its traditional interfaith worship service on Thursday, Jan. 21, the day after the inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. Activist and pastor the Rev. William Barber II will preach the sermon.
Will Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes be ready to play in AFC final?
Much is known about this NFL season after hundreds of games and five grueling months of popping pads. But it is the unknown that’s likely to spark the most conversation leading into the conference championships this Sunday, Jan. 24.
3 former NFL players to join CIAA Hall of Fame
Three former NFL players will be among the inductees into the CIAA’s 2021 John B. McLendon Hall of Fame.
Jersey of Willie O’Ree, hockey’s Jackie Robinson, to be retired by Boston Bruins
No one will ever wear No. 22 again for the Boston Bruins. That’s the jersey number Willie O’Ree wore for Boston when he broke the color barrier in the National Hockey League in 1958.
Rodman may become household name in soccer world, too
The name Rodman is very familiar to basketball fans. Now don’t be surprised if it becomes well known in the soccer world, too.
Thursday, January 14
For our own healing, by Daryl V. Fraser
On my mind that day were my New Year’s resolutions, the brilliance of Stacy Abrams, Georgia’s election results, Jacob Blake and Breonna Taylor. Oh, yeah, and the insurrection.
Interested in a COVID-19 vaccine?
Area health officials plan to expand vaccinations beginning Monday, Jan. 18, to front line essential workers, including police, firefighters and hazmat workers, pre-kindergarten through high school teachers and staff, child care workers and those who work in correctional facilities and homeless shelters.
Day of reckoning
The U.S. House of Representatives votes to impeach President Trump for a second time, charging him with “incitement of insurrection” over the deadly mob takeover of the U.S. Capitol
The reckoning has begun. Even as his followers were being arrested and he prepares to leave office in a few days, President Trump was labeled a “clear and present danger” to the nation’s security in becoming the first chief executive in U.S. history to be impeached twice – this time for the failed Jan. 6 insurrection in which he incited followers to carry out the biggest attack on the U.S. Capitol since 1814 when British troops burned it.
Black officer hailed as hero
A Black U.S. Capitol Police officer is being hailed a hero for steering an angry mob away from the U.S. Senate chambers in last week’s deadly storming of the U.S. Capitol by supporters of the president.
Growing their own
South Richmond medical marijuana facility grows more than 70 strains of plants used to help patients with various conditions
If recreational marijuana use were legalized in Virginia tomorrow, Green Leaf Medical — a medicinal marijuana dispensary in South Richmond — would be able to distribute products immediately, according to the company’s operations manager, Samer Abilmona.
Personality: Jonathan D. Davis
Spotlight on president of the Richmond Crusade for Voters
Now more than ever, Jonathan Dwayne Davis is aware of the impact of his work to encourage and safeguard an equitable voting process for Richmonders.
Best-selling novelist Eric Jerome Dickey dies at 59
Eric Jerome Dickey, the best-selling novelist who blended crime, romance and eroticism in “Sister, Sister,” “Waking With Enemies” and dozens of other stories about contemporary Black life, has died at age 59.
Alabama claims college football national crown
The University of Alabama ran the table and never broke stride in doing so.
Virtual events to commemorate the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
The life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the nation’s “drum major for justice,” will be celebrated during the annual national holiday on Monday, Jan. 18, in a very different way in the Metro Richmond area this year.
Dr. Fauci promotes COVID-19 vaccines on local Zoom call
“We want you all to get vaccinated for your own protection, for that of your family and for your community,” Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, who leads the nation’s health efforts to combat COVID-19, told a Zoom audience of about 10,000 people on a call with Richmond and Virginia health officials Jan. 8.
Area residents react to Jan. 6 events
Americans will mark Jan. 6, 2021, as another day that will live in infamy. On that day, throngs of Trump supporters left a rally where he had spoken and made their way to the U.S. Capitol, pushing past barricades and Capitol Police to force their way inside to disrupt Congress and the certification of Electoral College votes declaring Democrat Joe Biden the winner of the November presidential election.
NAACP call for resignation, accountability from elected Trump-backers
The Loudoun County Branch NAACP is calling for Loudoun Republican Delegate David A. “Dave” LaRock to immediately resign for participating in the Jan. 6 rally and insurrection in Washington.
VLBC outlines legislative priorities for new General Assembly session
Buoyed by two legislative sessions last year that ushered in huge reforms in voting and criminal justice, the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus is vowing to keep pressing for more change.
City voter registrar may be out
Kirk Showalter’s 25-year tenure as Richmond’s voter registrar may be coming to an end.
School Board deadlocked over Kamras’ contract
The Richmond School Board apparently is deadlocked on how long to extend Superintendent Jason Kamras’ contract that ends June 30.
African-American pastors join effort to abolish death penalty
In 1608, Virginia became the first jurisdiction in America to execute someone under the death penalty. In the centuries since, Virginia has gone on to execute around 1,400 people, more than any other state. Now, state faith leaders and justice advocates are working to ensure it never happens again.
VCU to host 90th birthday celebration for former Gov. Wilder
Former Gov. L. Douglas Wilder is turning 90.
Charges dismissed against Sen. Morrissey
State Sen. Joseph D. “Joe” Morrissey wants a public apology from Attorney General Mark R. Herring.
Martin Luther King Jr. holiday schedule
In observance of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday on Monday, Jan. 18, please note the following:
City Council votes to acquire more land for slave memorial
Despite objections from the landowner, Richmond City Council cleared the way for Mayor Levar M. Stoney’s administration to buy 1.75 acres of private property in Shockoe Bottom to provide extra space for a proposed Enslaved African Heritage Campus.
5 city schools get new pianos, thanks to RVA East End Festival
There will be more music in the air at five Richmond schools.
Tuskegee Airman Theodore Lumpkin Jr. dies in L.A.
One of the famed Tuskegee Airmen — the first Black pilots in the segregated U.S. military and among the most respected fighter pilots of World War II — has died from complications of the coronavirus, it was announced last Friday. Theodore Lumpkin Jr. was just days short of his 101st birthday.
After three other schools, J.J. Matthews Jr. picks NSU as his fourth – and hopefully final – stop
J.J. Matthews Jr. might be described as a basketball “globetrotter,” but minus any of the comical theater.
Nice guy Russell Wilson helps teammate make $100,000 bonus
The Seattle Seahawks had the lead and the ball with less than 30 seconds left on the clock Sunday, Jan. 3. All they had to do was take a knee to lock up a 26-23 victory against the San Francisco 49ers.
VCU looking to Nah’Shon ‘Bones’ Hyland in challenge for A-10 title
Just one player (Eric Maynor in 2009) in the last three-plus decades of Virginia Commonwealth University basketball has averaged at least 20 points per game.
Harvin wins Ray Guy Award
Pressley Harvin III has become the first African-American to win the Ray Guy Award, presented to the nation’s most outstanding college football punter.
Former ODU quarterback Taylor Heinicke finishes the season for Washington
The Washington Football Team opened this season with a first round draft choice at quarterback and finished with an undrafted free agent as quarterback.
Nonprofit mentoring group hosts virtual art sale, auction
MEGA Mentors, a nonprofit organization that helps students from underrepresented groups in Chesterfield County Public Schools, is hosting a virtual art sale, silent auction and raffle to benefit the group’s work.
Harris team blindsided by Vogue cover
Vice President-elect Kamala Harris has landed on the cover of the February issue of Vogue magazine, but her team says there’s a problem: The photo of the country’s soon-to-be No. 2 leader isn’t what both sides agreed upon, her team says.
Detroit post office named in honor of ‘Queen of Soul’
The “Queen of Soul” will forever be remembered at a Detroit post office.
Dr. Dre hospitalized with brain aneurysm
Dr. Dre says he will be “back home soon” after the music mogul received medical treatment at a Los Angeles hospital for a reported brain aneurysm.
Speaking truth to power
“Hope and fear cannot occupy the same space at the same time. Invite one to stay.” — Maya angelou
Was insurrection an inside job? by Julianne Malveaux
If you watched the disgraceful invasion of the U.S. Capitol and the horrific destruction that took place on Jan. 6, you observed a legion of limited-intelligence, low-life louts.
Only In America
Only in America could you in one day be egged on by the president of this country to disrupt the judicial process of this land and breech the U.S. Capitol — an icon of our democracy — to destroy property, to upset and scare our lawmakers and to take down the very symbol upon which we all have pledged and adopted — the American flag.
Insurrection underestimated
The nation and the world witnessed a har- rowing experience unlike any seen for more than 200 years. The underestimated insurrection that has been incited for more than four years finally became a reality.
A New Low
I am at ground zero. My law degree cannot protect me. My fancy address cannot protect me. My radio appearances and Zoom book tour cannot protect me. I check with, and for, my daughter against this madness as we all should the way the Black Power Movement taught me.
Dr. King and accountability
On Jan. 18, the nation will once again commemorate the birthday of Dr. King. The life, faith and great ideas of the freedom warrior should represent a model and guide for our national life working together in “cooperative action.” To what end? To advance justice and social uplift, while at the same time defending and standing up to protect democratic principles – the foundation and bedrock of our democracy.
Thursday, January 7
New City Council has history-making membership
Along with welcoming two new members, City Council installed two veterans and allies of Mayor Levar M. Stoney in its top leadership posts Monday and reshuffled committee chairmanships.
2020 Year in Photos
Who knew when Richmonders rang in the year 2020 that it would be such a year of tumult?
Questions raised about legalizing marijuana and equity
Re: “Coalition pushes Black inclusion in marijuana legalization,” Free Press Dec. 31, 2020-Jan. 2, 2021, edition:
New year, new meat alternatives
With the year of COVID-19 barely behind us, we look forward to the new year and the customary resolutions — reduce personal weight, reduce time on social media and reduce consumption of animal foods.
Woodland Cemetery is a quiet gem of beauty
Nestled between Richmond’s Highland Park neighborhood and the Henrico County boundary lines lies Woodland Cemetery, a quiet, somewhat isolated cemetery that is a gem of a beauty.
Justice Department protests powerful, by Marc H. Morial
The decision in late December not to charge the officers who shot and killed a Black child on sight encapsulates everything that is wrong with the U.S. Department of Justice under the current administration.
We were medical guinea pigs, by Julianne Malveaux
People who don’t know Black history have probably heard more about the Tuskegee syphilis “experiment” in the last month than they have in their whole lives.
Woman power
“If you want something said, ask a man; if you want something done, ask a woman.” — Margaret Thatcher
Hurry, Jan. 20
We remain disgusted by President Trump and his continued assault on democracy — this time stemming from his refusal to accept the outcome of the November presidential election.
Race car driver is now a knight
Lewis Hamilton, the seven- time Formula One racing champion, is now a “Sir” as well.
Oklahoma begins Tulsa race massacre centennial remembrance
Oklahoma began a centennial remembrance Jan. 1 of a once- thriving African-American neighborhood in Tulsa decimated by deadly white violence that has received growing recognition during America’s reckoning over police brutality and racial violence.
Bianca Smith is first Black female coach with MLB franchise
Bianca Smith is blazing a new trail in professional baseball.
Denver Broncos Hall of Fame running back Floyd Little dies
Dynamic running back Floyd Little, among the most revered athletes in the annals of Syracuse University and the Denver Broncos, died Friday, Jan. 1, 2021.
Derrick Henry rushes into NFL record books
Derrick Henry has joined one of the NFL’s most pres- tigious fraternities—the 2,000 yard club.
Washington Football Team headed to NFL playoffs
A record of seven wins and nine losses isn’t very good, but it’s good enough.
Heisman winner DeVonta Smith has made his way into the history books
For many decades, it seemed wide receivers need not apply for the Heisman Trophy. Then along came DeVonta Smith to change attitudes.
Federal stimulus bill eliminates $1.3B in HBCU debt
In 2012, Virginia Union University was awarded a $17 million federal loan as it began development of a combination conference center and residence hall.
VUU receives $6M grant from Dominion Energy; names new trustees
Virginia Union University has been awarded a $6 million grant from Dominion Energy to enable the school to beef up its offerings in science, technology, engineering and math and improve its campus.
VLBC retains strength with special election victories
The Virginia Legislative Black Caucus gained two new members Tuesday night as the result of special elections to fill vacant seats in the House of Delegates.
GRTC, union stalled on new contract for drivers
An unexpected impasse has developed in contract talks between GRTC and its unionized drivers that is creating friction and blocking approval of a new three-year contract to replace the one that expired Sept. 30.
City could have saved $8M on 2 new schools
The new vice chairman of the Richmond School Board wants to end what he sees as overspending on new school buildings.
Advocates launch effort to expand paid sick days for workers
An alliance of 25 Virginia organizations, coordinated by the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy, is calling for the expansion of paid sick days across the Commonwealth to aid workers and their families in a way that may help stem the spread of COVID-19.
Correction
City Hall has not begun talks with the Loving family about purchasing 12 parcels in Shockoe Bottom, including the vacant Loving’s Produce building at 1601 E. Grace St., to add to the proposed Enslaved African Heritage Campus, according to Jim Nolan, press secretary to Mayor Levar M. Stoney.
Dr. Anthony Fauci to address COVID-19 myths on city panel Jan. 8
The nation’s top doctor in the battle against COVID-19 will participate in a virtual discussion of health disparities and the coronavirus on Friday, Jan. 8, that will be open to the public.
Hopewell nurse dies helping COVID-19 patients
One hour after the new year began, nurse Syvie M. Robertson died at age 51 from COVID-19 complications at Johnston-Willis Hospital in Richmond, leaving behind a loving family and promising future.
School Board swears in new members, selects new leaders
The East End gained another leadership post with Cheryl L. Burke’s election as the new Richmond School Board chair.
Minority-owned companies waited months for federal COVID-19 relief loans
Thousands of minority-owned small businesses were at the end of the line in the government’s coronavirus relief program as many struggled to find banks that would accept their applications or were disadvantaged by the terms of the program.
IRS claims Prince’s estate undervalued by 50 percent
The ongoing controversy over the money left behind by Prince when he died without a will is heating up again after Internal Revenue Service calculations showed that executors of the rock star’s estate undervalued it by 50 percent, or about $80 million.
Record-breaking weightlifter Baron Dixon defies stereotypes as a vegan
Baron Dixon fits the image of a weight-lifting champion with arms like tree trunks, legs thick as courthouse pillars and boulder shoulders.
Historic Black church in DC sues Proud Boys over property destruction
A historic Black church has filed a lawsuit against members of the Proud Boys after a leader of the white supremacist group took credit for burning a Black Lives Matter sign belonging to the Washington church.
Mary P. James, first lady of Trinity Baptist Church, succumbs at 74
The first lady of Trinity Baptist Church in North Side has died. Mary Peebles “Mary P” James, wife of Dr. A. Lincoln James Jr., who has led the church for 40 years, succumbed to illness on Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2020. She was 74.
Personality: Dr. W. Franklyn Richardson
Spotlight on VUU board chairman and the MLK Community Leaders Celebration
For the first time in 43 years, Virginia Union University’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. Community Leaders Breakfast will be a virtual celebration.
Mayor’s new term to focus on transforming city into ‘capital of compassion’
Mayor Levar M. Stoney promised to listen more, engage the community in developing initiatives and push for “justice and equity” as he was sworn in Monday for a second four-year term.
No charges in shootings of Jacob Blake and Tamir Rice
A Wisconsin prosecutor declined Tuesday to file charges against a white police officer who shot a Black man in the back in Kenosha, Wis., concluding he couldn’t disprove the officer’s contention that he acted in self-defense because he feared the man would stab him.
Trump’s mob sparks violence
After spurring violence, chaos and an attempted takeover of the U.S. Capitol, President Trump urged his mob of supporters to go home, telling them, ‘We love you. You’re very special.’
Thousands of President Trump’s supporters — with his encouragement — sought to seize the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Wednesday and halt the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives from completing the certification of Democrat Joe Biden’s election as the nation’s next chief executive.
