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A battle supreme
Dems, civil rights groups and others gearing up for confirmation fight over U.S. Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh
To President Trump, he’s “a judge’s judge” and “a brilliant legal mind” who deserves swift confirmation.
Crusading journalist George E. Curry dies at 69
George E. Curry, a pioneering journalist and publisher whose civil rights advocacy helped free a Henrico County woman from federal prison while calling national attention to the disparity in federal drug sentences for African-Americans, died Saturday, Aug. 20, 2016, at a Takoma Park, Md., hospital.
Confederate statues go black in Charlottesville
Workers in Charlottesville draped giant black tarps over two statues of Confederate generals on Wednesday to symbolize the city’s mourning for Heather Heyer, the 32-year-old paralegal who was killed while protesting a white nationalist rally. The work began around 1 p.m. in Emancipation Park, where a towering monument of Robert E. Lee on horseback stands. Workers gathered around the monument with a large black covering. Some stood in cherry-pickers and others used ropes and poles to cover the statue as onlookers took photos and video.
Local couple in Paris bears witness to Notre Dame fire
George K. Martin of Mechanicsville and his wife, Anita, arrived in Paris on Sunday night and made a sightseeing list that included some of the top tourist spots in the City of Lights, including Notre Dame Cathedral.
Trump’s budget plan raises hackles, skepticism with deep cuts to social programs
Angry Democrats and skeptical Republicans are fighting back against attempts by administrative officials to defend President Trump’s proposed $4.1 trillion budget that slashes safety net programs for the poor, targeting food stamps, Medicaid and student loan forgiveness, while relying on rosy projections about the nation’s economic growth to balance the budget within 10 years.
Study: Teachers quicker to label black students as ‘troublemakers’
A new study suggests that racial stereotyping by teachers could be a root cause for harsher discipline imposed on black students. Two Stanford University psychologists, Dr. Jennifer L. Eberhardt and doctoral candidate Jason Okonofua, conducted the study to determine if hidden bias could explain government data showing that misbehaving black students are three times more likely to be suspended or expelled from public schools than their misbehaving white peers. The psychologists’ research found that teachers are quicker to label black students as troublemakers and to consider more severe penalties for them, compared with white students who misbehave.
Recovering: Relief efforts begin to help thousands affected by Hurricane Florence; officials report 37 storm-related deaths, including 2 in Virginia
Remnants of Hurricane Florence swept Richmond into the national spotlight Monday when the storm’s wide-reaching bands of high winds and heavy rains spawned tornadoes and flash flooding.
Virginia to enter Phase Three of reopening on July 1
Restrictions on businesses and public gatherings across the state will be further relaxed beginning Wednesday, July 1, as Virginia moves into Phase Three of its reopening plan during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Arthur Ashe’s life story coming to the big screen
The life of legendary tennis great and local hometown hero Arthur Ashe Jr. will be told in a film by an Oscar-winning writer and an Indian movie producer and former international tennis competitor who once played Mr. Ashe and lost.
Obama wept
His executive order aims to halt gun killings
Wiping back tears as he remembered children killed in a mass shooting, President Obama on Tuesday ordered stricter gun rules that he can impose without Congress and urged American voters to reject pro-gun candidates.
Acclaimed writer Paule Marshall, professor emeritus at VCU, dies at 90
Writer Paule Marshall, an exuberant and sharpened storyteller who in books such as “Daughters” and “Brown Girl, Brownstones” drew upon classic and vernacular literature and her mother’s kitchen conversations to narrate the divides between African-Americans and Caucasians, men and women, and modern and traditional cultures, died Monday, Aug. 20, 2019, in Richmond.
Votes and laws, not thoughts and prayers’
Gov. Northam calls for special General Assembly session to deal with gun violence
Gov. Ralph S. Northam is summoning lawmakers back to the state Capitol for a special legislative session to consider gun-control legislation, saying last Friday’s mass shooting in Virginia Beach calls for “votes and laws, not thoughts and prayers.”
W&M dedicates memorial to those who were enslaved by the university
William & Mary, the nation’s second oldest institution of higher education, dedicated a brick memorial last Saturday that honors people who were enslaved by the university.
Virginia to join vax mandate challenges under new GOP governor, AG
Virginia will join other Republican-led states and business groups in challenging Biden administration mandates intended to increase the nation’s COVID-19 vaccination rate once GOP Gov.-elect Glenn A. Youngkin and Attorney General-elect Jason Miyares take office, the two said in a statement last week.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu, lion of anti-apartheid movement, dies at 90
Mourners held a candlelight prayer ceremony outside the Soweto home of the late Archbishop Desmond Tutu on Wednesday, weeping over the memory not only of a world-renowned lion of the anti-apartheid movement but of a kind and loyal neighbor.
Judge Damon J. Keith, civil rights and judicial icon, dies at 96
U.S. Appeals Court Judge Damon J. Keith, who decided many of the nation’s most important school desegregation, employment discrimination and government surveillance cases during his more than 50 years on the federal bench, died Sunday, April 28, 2019, at his home in Detroit surrounded by family.
Dems pull out big guns to energize virtual convention for Biden
Democrats launched the third day of their virtual national convention on Wednesday, with headliners broadening the focus from a multipart rebuke of President Trump to an energizing message of change in boosting former Vice President Joe Biden’s presidential bid.
‘Black Panther’ continues to smash box office records
The box office hit “Black Panther” is now the top grossing superhero film of all time in the United States. The wildly popular Disney and Marvel release achieved the milestone on Saturday after surpassing fellow Marvel title “The Avengers.”
That’s the ticket
Hillary Clinton shatters glass ceiling with historic presidential nod
Hillary Rodham Clinton swept into history Tuesday as Democrats, eager to present a face of unity to a national television audience, chose her to be the party’s standard-bearer in the Nov. 8 presidential election.
6 Virginia tribes set for federal recognition
Six Virginia Indian tribes have secured congressional recognition, ending a nearly two-decade fight for official acknowledgment of their place in U.S. history.
