Winner of major fellowships
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Richmond Free Press © 2016 Paradigm Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.
VOL. 25 NO. 30
Baton Rouge works to heal after shootings Free Press wire reports BATON ROUGE, LA.
On the affluent south side of Baton Rouge, a clutch of plastic balloons bobs in front of the gas station where a former Marine shot and killed three police officers last Sunday. On the impoverished north side of the city, a pile of flowers and a spraypainted portrait mark the spot where resident Alton Sterling was killed by police two weeks ago. Mr. Sterling’s funeral services July 15 drew hundreds of mourners, with the exception of Baton Rouge Mayor Kip Holden. The impromptu shrines in Louisiana’s state capital illustrate the heartache on both sides of a confrontation over police use of lethal force against mostly African-American men and targeted killings in Dallas and Baton Rouge by African-American gunmen bearing racial grievPlease turn to A4
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA
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Gordon Parks exhibit at VMFA
JULY 21-23, 2016
Say what? Donald J. Trump wins Republican nomination after wife steals speech from Michelle Obama By Alexander Panetta The Canadian Press
of the House of Delegates and current Norfolk Circuit Court judge, initiated the approach during his tenure as director of the state Department of Juvenile Justice with support from the Annie E. Casey Foundation. The goal of the program is to provide alternatives to detention for teens facing lower-level charges. The program both has helped end overcrowding at the Richmond Detention Center and proved that youths awaiting trial on delinquency charges could remain in the community, sometimes with and sometimes without electronic monitors. Please turn to A4
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Carolyn Kaster/Associated Press
Donald J. Trump, the Republican nominee for president, introduces his wife, Melania, who addressed delegates Monday during the opening day of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland.
After 26 years, Judge Roberts retiring from juvenile court By Jeremy M. Lazarus
done to make the system fairer and more just. And I worked hard to create and support programs that For 26 years, Judge Angela Edwards Roberts made a difference.” has been a presence in the Richmond Juvenile She will not put her black robe away for and Domestic Relations Court. good. Along with her colleagues, she has dealt with “This is not the end,” Judge Roberts said. “I all the sad, messy issues involving individuals plan to take six months off to relax. And then I and families — ranging from cutody battles to expect to sit in as a substitute judge.” stalking and domestic abuse to teens involved in Judge Roberts made history in Virginia when, in bad behavior and criminal activity. She also has 1990, she was the first African-American woman experienced the joy of helping create families to win election from the General Assembly to through adoption. serve on any court. “The work we do is emotionally draining,” She started out in the old juvenile courthouse Judge Roberts said. “We see everything that goes on Mecklenburg Street, but within six years, she wrong with society. People come to us when they and her colleagues were moved into a new $13 million courts and detention complex named for the late renowned attorney Oliver W. Hill Sr. located on a street named for him — a source of pride to her. During more than two decades, Judge Roberts has left her mark on the court. Among other achievements, she helped overhaul the administration of the court and the scheduling of cases that ended “cattlecall” dockets. She also helped create several annual events at the court, including Adoption Day to celebrate new families. “Judge Roberts is a leader, a mentor and a role model,” Judge Marilyn C. Goss wrote on behalf of herself, Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press Chief Judge AshJudge Angela Edwards Roberts became the first elected Africanley K. Tunner and American female judge in Virginia in 1990. Judge Richard B. Campbell, the two other juvenile court judges who hear cases at the have nowhere else to go, when things go wrong Oliver Hill Courts Building. and they need to fix them. And that’s what we Among other things, Judge Roberts set the try to do.” Now 62, the judge with a dimple-cheeked tone, particularly for new judges. “She has run smile who often has had to hide behind a stern her courtroom with dignity and expected the best judicial mask is counting down the days until from all who have appeared before her,” Judge Goss wrote. she retires. While noting that Judge Roberts built a reputaAlready packing her office, her final day will be July 29. tion as a “strong, no-nonsense judge,” Judge Goss For her, the time is right to retire, and she said Judge Roberts has been “an advocate for said in a recent interview that she leaves with change,” particularly in dealing with juveniles. “no regrets.” She is credited with pushing the Richmond “I care deeply about the people who come court to embrace the Juvenile Detention Alternative before me. I asked continuously what could be Initiative after Jerrauld C. Jones, a former member
CLEVELAND
Donald J. Trump crossed the threshold of history the way he ran the Republican race: Soaked in drama, surrounded by back-stabbing, jeered by well-heeled critics as a no-hope amateur, cheered by a die-hard base and embraced at the finish line by his family. The billionaire businessman was officially nominated as the Republican Party’s candidate for president Tuesday in a surreal day befitting one of the most surreal campaigns in modern political history. It started with intrigue over how the party of Honest Abe managed to allow the nominee’s wife to deliver a speech sprinkled with paragraphs of pilfered oratory. Hours later, it ended with his children hugging on the convention floor as he officially reached the number of necessary delegates. Pixels of digital fireworks erupted on the overhead scoreboard. A Muzak-style rendition of “New York, New York,” blared on the speakers. And on the convention floor, the nominee’s namesake officially put him over the top in the roll call from his home state. “Congratulations, Dad. We love you,” Donald Trump Jr. shouted above the rumble of a loud-but-not-unanimous crowd, which chanted, “Trump! Trump! Trump!” “It’s not a campaign anymore. It’s a movement. It’s my honor to be able to throw Donald Trump over the top in the delegate count tonight,” Donald Jr. said. There were only faint remnants of the once-bitter opposition to Mr. Trump within the party. The vote from New York was followed by Puerto Rico, which announced its delegates belonged to U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida. The crowd also booed as the delegation from the nation’s capital, the District of Columbia, awarded Mr. Trump zero delegates. But Mr. Trump won handily. His moment of triumph came in yet another day that presidential election historians will note for its novelty. On Monday night, Melania Trump had recited near-verbatim snippets of a 2008 speech from First Lady Michelle Obama, causing a bout of finger-pointing at the Republican convention. There were calls Tuesday for heads to roll — again. The GOP party chair suggested someone should be fired. Donald Trump’s campaign manager, who was just fired, suggested some-
Third time a charm?
Black-owned business hopes to find success at NFL training camp By Reginald Stuart
Herman Baskerville is optimistic about the start next Thursday of the 2016 summer training camp in Richmond for Washington’s professional football team. For sure, hosting nearly three weeks of professional football
training gives the city countless chances to showcase its tourist attractions, parks, theaters, schools, hotels, houses of worship and dining spots. Mr. Baskerville, owner of Big Herm’s Kitchen, a take-out restaurant on North 2nd Street in Jackson Ward, hopes he and his employees will benefit
from that attention as one of the official vendors selected to sell food on the grounds of the training camp at 2401 W. Leigh St. No black-owned businesses or locally owned businesses were inside the training camp in Please turn to A4
Swing high Fahdor Rivers, 6, provides some brotherly love and a big push for his 2-year-old sister, Zinai Brooks, who gleefully glided back and forth on the toddler swings at the Carter Jones Park on Perry Street in South Side. The youngsters’ mother, Ashley Brooks, was close by with a watchful eye. Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press