Grace Mamon

1 week ago | cardinalnews.org | Grace Mamon

Content warning: Some of the historical content in this story includes racial slurs and racist language. David Womack was told to avoid downtown Danville during the summer of 1963. His parents instructed him to stay away, he recalls, though countless other kids his age were there daily — and the only difference between them and David was the color of their skin. He knew they were participating in civil rights demonstrations, but he was 14 years old and it was summertime.

1 week ago | cardinalnews.org | Grace Mamon

Content warning: Some of the historical content in this story includes racial slurs and racist language. The group of Danville City Council members, all white and all men, gathered in the municipal building meeting room, with its high ceilings and dark wooden columns and pew-like bench seating. Mayor Julian Stinson, a middle-aged man who wore a suit and had his dark, short hair slicked back, presided over the June 10, 1963, meeting, which began ordinarily enough.

1 week ago | cardinalnews.org | Grace Mamon

Content warning: Some of the historical content in this story includes racial slurs and racist language. There was a routine to Sundays in the Moore household. A big breakfast and the morning paper, followed by church service. It was June 1963, and the cool mornings warmed up quickly into long, sticky days. Eighteen-year-old Dorothy Moore sat with her parents and her sister at the kitchen table of their home in Camp Grove, a historically Black neighborhood in Danville.

1 week ago | cardinalnews.org | Grace Mamon

It’s been half a year since Caesars Virginia opened its doors in Danville, becoming one of the first casino resorts in the state. The grand opening on Dec. 17 took the city from having a temporary casino to having a full-scale resort — and everything that comes along with it. Running the resort is a whole different ballgame than operating the semi-permanent tent that housed the temporary casino, said Caesars Virginia General Manager Chris Albrecht. “It’s a much larger operation,” Albrecht said.

1 week ago | cardinalnews.org | Grace Mamon

Danville is seeking a $1 million grant from the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development to address blighted properties in the city. The city council will consider an item authorizing the grant application at its regular meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday. The planning division of Danville’s Department of Community Development would submit the grant. If it receives the requested state funds, the city would target the Five Forks area of Danville for blight removal.