Congressman A. Donald McEachin of Richmond is sponsoring a Black History Month essay contest for middle and high school students living in Virginia’s 4th Congressional District.

The fate of a federal lawsuit brought by the Hanover County Branch NAACP in a bid to force the Hanover County School Board to rename two schools currently named for Confederate leaders could be decided on Jan. 14.

Virginia Union University will cut the yearly cost of undergraduate tuition by $5,000 beginning next fall in an apparent bid to attract more students and end a quiet, but dramatic two-year drop in enrollment.

When a divided Richmond City Council voted 5-4 on Dec. 9 to proceed with hiring C.H. Johnson Consulting to review the $1.5 billion Richmond Coliseum replacement plan, most members had no idea that the company’s bid had come in 13 …

All 14 Democrats who filed to run in Virginia’s March 3 Democratic presidential primary made the ballot, according to the Virginia Department of Elections.

With the start of 2020, the Richmond Free Press invited select state and local officials to share their foremost wishes for the new year. Here are their responses:

A standing-room-only crowd of more than 400 packed the meeting room, filled the lobby and spilled into the parking lot recently in rural Buckingham County. They had one thing on their minds: Guns.

Local police departments have long kept a tight grip on their information, only grudgingly releasing crime statistics and usually keeping data on officer activity off limits to taxpayers. But the Richmond Police Department is taking a different tack.

Sixty people as of noon Dec. 31, were fatally shot, bludgeoned or knifed to death in Richmond in 2019, according to city Police Department statistics.

GRTC lacks the funding to develop and operate the modern transfer center that is part of the $1.5 billion city and Navy Hill District Corp. plan to replace the Richmond Coliseum and develop nearby blocks, according to the bus company.

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.

The Richmond School Board could start the new year with a new chair at the helm.

Residents enjoy their new apartment building in the Armstrong Renaissance complex that has replaced Armstrong High School in the 1600 block of North 31st St.

The main chapel of Centenary United Methodist Church was filled with the sounds of fellowship on a recent Friday as an audience of about 50 guests joined in the musical holiday cheer provided by the RVA Street Singers.

Two Virginia congressional representatives are calling for the statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee to be replaced in the U.S. Capitol by a Virginian of color who has dedicated his or her life to fighting for equality.