Reader Mary received a postcard in the mail from Balzer & Associates advertising a meeting next Tuesday “to discuss the development proposal for residential townhouses on Bliley Road near its intersection with Forest Hill Ave.”

I’m not sure if this is the eastern or western side of the intersection, but since that big white house on the corner has been looking empty for a while now, I’d guess it’s the eastern side.

The meeting will take place Tuesday October 9, 7PM, at Bethany Christian Church, 5400 Forest Hill Ave.

VCU student Michelle Antogiovanni wrote the following article for Dr. Jeffrey South’s Mass Communications class; Dr. South was nice enough to share it with us (any formatting issues hereabouts are my fault). A different piece along the same lines from Michelle also appears in the VCU Commonwealth times. Thanks to Michelle and Dr. South!

Read more >

The University of Richmond will be hosting an on-campus eWaste recycling event Oct. 11-13. The Thursday and Friday drop-off is reserved for K12, Colleges & Universities, Non-profits and small businesses. Saturday the 13th is open to the public.

All the details (and there are lots of them) can be found on the event’s website.

Details are sketchy so far, but apparently an ice cream truck driver was shot in the parking lot of a southside elementary school. This may or may not be in our immediate area- I think I can safely say it wasn’t Westover Hills or Redd Elementary. Hopefully some more details will be released soon.

What are the odds of two shootings, so close together in time and space, centering around the ice cream trade?

Edit: This happened at Greene Elementary, so not within our immediate area.

John passes along more information following up on last months’ Problem Solving Session.

On Friday Oct. 19 the city will hold a free one-day workshop designed to inform citizens, realtors, property owners, buyers, contractors, neighbors, architects, engineers and developers regarding the requirements of and issues relating to vacant building ownership. Topics including City concerns, rights and responsibilities, structural systems, building codes, violations, maintenance, demolition, spot blight abatement, historic rehabilitation tax credits, financing, tax delinquent sales, and more. For more information, contact Tyler Potterfield, 646-6364. No registration required.

The workshop takes place at the Hickory Hill Community Center, from 9am-5pm. No official word as to whether this was sparked by the attention Vacant Richmond has generated towards our blighted and abandoned properties, but I can’t help but think they’re at least partially responsible.

The latest in a long line of RPS school renovation/closure plans is making the rounds and, perhaps not unexpectedly, our local schools are completely missing from the first 5-year phase. The second phase (circa 2012) would see Swansboro Elementary renovated/expanded and Huguenot High replaced with a new building at its current location.

4th District Representative/Board Chairman George Braxton has been pushing a new Huguenot High for quite some time. Personally, I’m surprised that neither Westover Hills nor Redd Elementary schools have been targeted for closure/consolidation, considering they’re roughly 7/10 mile apart, but then Patrick Henry has only been closed a couple of years…

…which seems like a good opportunity to mention that the PH School Initiative folks should be meeting tonight, 8PM, at the Berryman Community Center, 400 West 32nd Street.

From the “There’s something you don’t see everyday” department: Workers building the neo-sprawl Creek’s Edge apartments, over by Stony Point Fashion Park, discovered a brain in a bag. Police were unsure whether it was human or animal.

Westover Hills United Methodist Church is holding its annual Fall Festival this Saturday, October 13. From 10am-1pm, the church will have food, carnival games, a dunk tank and, naturally, pumpkins. Pumpkins can also be purchased at the church daily from Noon-6pm (Saturdays, 10am-6pm) through October 31.

Style Weekly gives a quick shout to Nate’s Taco Truck. A VCU staple run by a Forest View resident, Nate offers “the best tacos in town — end of discussion.”

A press release today from the Mayor’s office alerts us to a town hall meeting, 6:00PM Tuesday, October 23, at Southside Community Service Center, 4100 Hull Street.

Rough night for neighborhood high school teams, both losing to teams from Chesterfield. Huguenot High School lost a close game to Monacan, 27-20 (NBC12 has video highlights online), bringing their record to 1-5. George Wythe High fared far worse, losing 43-6 to Cosby HS. They remain winless at 0-6.

The Sunday T-D published an editorial by 4th District Council Rep Kathy Graziano. If you were unclear on her position re: Wilder v. School Board, this should clear things up completely.

Thompson MS science teacher Kimberly Colbert is the recipient of a $25,000 Milken National Educator Award.

Recipients are recommended for the award without their knowledge by a blue-ribbon panel appointed by each state’s department of education. More than 80 outstanding educators from across the nation received 2007 Milken Educator Awards.

Colbert, a graduate of the University of Richmond, chairs the science department at Thompson. She is one of two Virginia teachers to win this year’s Milken Educator Award.

RPS press release here. Hopefully this will help the public realize that, despite the many problems plaguing RPS, there are still good, dedicated teachers in the system.

Today’s T-D is reporting that the Huguenot Bridge replacement project will be moved up and could open a year sooner than originally announced. A public hearing willl be held Nov. 13, 4:30-7:30 PM at Bon Air Elementary School, just across the city-Chesterfield line.

The latest “Ask the Mayor” feature on Richmond.com features a question on crime from a Westover Hills resident and a sort-of answer from the Mayor.

Read more >

Following a 9PM crash at Forest Hill/Jahnke that left 2 cars in shambles (but no injuries as far as I could tell), a second Forest Hill crash, just east of the Powhite, has left one person dead.

Forest Hill Park takes center stage in a T-D article on the state of Richmond’s major parks.

Over the past few years, however, the park made a comeback. The city repaired granite picnic fireplaces built in the 1930s and a historic building, the Stone House. Hundreds of trees were planted.

This winter, the city plans to return the muddy cattail haven to its past grandeur as a scenic lake where Richmonders once swam and skated. The cost: $1.2 million.

Could the park finally see the long-promised lake work?

Today’s New York Times profiles the recent fireworks surrounding Doug Wilder and his clashes with City Council and the School Board. 4th District Council Rep Kathy Graziano shares her feelings:

“Mr. Wilder has the skills to do things no one else could do,” said Councilwoman Katherine C. Graziano, who voted for Mr. Wilder and contributed to his campaign. But Ms. Graziano no longer counts herself as a Wilder supporter, citing “the mayor’s disregard for the law, his lack of communication with and disrespect for Council.”

The City of Richmond has a knack for taking the national spotlight for the worst things, doesn’t it?

Richmond City Council last night passed legislation making it illegal to chain up a dog outside for more than an hour. It’s hardly breaking news at this point, but I thought it warranted a mention in the context of our neighborhoods. I see on a regular basis a large number of dogs in my neighborhood (Forest View) and others nearby (Northrup & Jahnke particularly) tied up for hours at a time, usually with little shelter or water. Typically, they’re pit bulls or rottweilers and the owners, when present, clearly have little regard for the animals beyond owning a “status symbol.” In the end, I suspect this law won’t do much to change things, but at least it might bring a little lasting attention to an issue that usually gets swept under the rug.

The Westover Hills Elementary School is in the process of renovating their library and courtyard. The school has received grant funding for some of the projects, but is dependent on volunteer help to accomplish all the renovations.

One of the projects is removing a large brick wall located in the middle of the courtyard. The wall is about 100’ long and 5’ tall. The wall removal project will begin Wednesday morning and will likely carry over through Thursday.

On Friday the playground will receive new landscaping so it is imperative that the wall be removed by Thursday afternoon. Two local companies, TK Davis Development and Gilbane Building Company will be providing workers and tools to cut the wall up and assist with removal of the brick.

Due to the compressed timeframe to complete the project volunteers from the community are desperately needed! Start time is planned for 9am Wednesday, 10/24, and work will proceed throughout the day and (probably) into Thursday as well. If you have even an hour to help out it will make a difference.

You will not need any special skills! Bring work gloves. Bring a wheel barrow if possible (not required.) Lunch will be provided for anyone that comes out to lend a hand! Even if you are unable to lend a hand please feel free to come by and take a look!

Stratford Hills’ own Positive Vibe Cafe is the recipient of a 2007 New Freedom Initiative Award. The award, handed out by the US Department of Labor, “recognizes non-profits, small businesses, corporations and individuals that have demonstrated exemplary and innovative efforts in furthering the employment and workplace environment for people with disabilities.”

Susanna from the Patrick Henry School Initiative passes along the following:

The Patrick Henry School Initiative submitted its charter school application to the Richmond City School Board in the beginning of October (YEAH!!!)

The proposed charter school would be open to any elementary school aged child in the city.

Read more >

Tomorrow morning, you can choose between the Spooky Pancake breakfast at Forest Hill Presbyterian Church or a River/Photography talk with Ralph White. No idea if weather will cancel or postpone either event, so you may want to call ahead.

Full details can be found in the calendar.

The Westover Hills Library Advisory Group will be painting the meeting room in the Westover Hills Library over the weekends of November 10th and November 17th- both Saturday and Sunday. The first weekend will be prep, and the second weekend painting.

If you are interested in helping, please contact Laura Dysart at 231-7662 or littleb5@comcast.net for more information and hours. Any amount of time is helpful! This is a much-needed project and will help beautify our library for meetings, story times, authors’ nights and special programs!

Books for Soldiers
Westover Hills Library Branch Manager, Clay Dishon, is heading up a project to get books and media to soldiers overseas. Please consider going to the library and looking at the wish lists of some of our soldiers overseas and purchasing books for them. Clay is an official volunteer for this program; please contact him at 646-8833 for more information. He will be sending the packages overseas. Monetary donations are also welcome and books will be purchased from the wish lists. The support of our community is greatly appreciated.