The quick answer on the status of the traffic circle is dead. The reason behind that death is not entirely straight forward. The city administration originally introduced an ordinance that had 3-4 traffic circles in it, including Roanoke and Forest Hill Avenue. Because it is Mrs. Graziano’s policy that controversial items need to be discussed with the community before they go forward, that process had begun with a work group from Friends of Forest Hill Park. The the administration withdrew the ordinance, and said they would reintroduce ordinances for each traffic circle separately. Meanwhile, the community dialog went forward. It became clear that there was little or no support for the proposal as evidenced by the Friends of Forest Hill Park Board voted of 5-3 (not 100% sure of numbers) to oppose and then Forest Hill Neighborhood Association voted about 40-1 to oppose. So the paper was never introduced by City Administration, and the proposal lies dead. At any time the paper could be introduced by the mayor, but that isn’t expected to happen. At this point, the Department of Public Works plans traffic signal upgrades at Forest Hill and Westover Hills Blvd, Forest Hill and Jahnke, and Westover Hills and New Kent.

Both the questions on Richmond.com’s Why Richmond, Why?!? are relevant to good chunk of the Hills and Heights hoods. Question 1 is on why does the Nickel bridge closed during storms. I don’t think anyone will be surprised with the answer. Quick answer it is a narrow bridge that can quickly become dangerous. The second question deals asks who is responsible for potholes in the alley. Quick answer the city. Check out the link for more detailed answer.

As a side note there is a poll on Richmond.com asking “What is your favorite Irish pub” as of 11:00 am O’Toole’s is in second place to Sine. Don’t tell anyone but my vote went to Penny Lane. In my mind you can’t be considered a pub unless footie is on 24/7.

Today is Dr. Suess‘ birthday and in his honor it is also Read Across America Day. The Richmond Police are doing their part by having volunteers read at schools across the city. The volunteers will be reading at Westover Hills Elementary today, Southampton on Monday, and G.H. Reid on Tuesday. Check out the Richmond Police Blog for a list of other schools.

We did a post last year that highlighted some of Dr. Suess work for the war effort during WWII.

RVAnews writer Chris Dovi has this to say:

If any question remains regarding Gov. Bob McDonnell’s commitment to Patrick Henry School of Science and Arts, his plan to personally host a fundraiser for the city’s first charter school should dispel all doubts.

Officials with the school confirm that McDonnell, along with delegates John M. O’Bannon (R-Henrico) and Joe Morrissey (D-Henrico), have committed to hosting an invite-only event on March 30.

“As of right now the details are still being worked out,” says Antione Green, chief executive officer for Patrick Henry. “It will be a community fundraiser. People will have the opportunity to demonstrate their financial support for Patrick Henry and at the same time get an opportunity to meet the governor.”

RTD has details on the charter school legislation moving forward.

Tricycle Gardens is building a community garden and could use a hand. If you have a shovel or pick, please bring it and get dirty at the corner of 9th & Bainbridge in Old Manchester. Every Tuesday and Wednesday from 9am-1pm. They will also be doing some extra work on Saturday March 6th & 13th from 10am-2pm. I am not as familiar as I should be with this group but it looks like they have some great stuff going on, check them out.

Facebook Info and website.

If you have been wondering who was responsible for the new trees that are going up along Semmes Avenue wonder no more I found the answer on the Woodland Heights Yahoo Group;

I hope everyone has seen the new trees, sporting green watering bags, being planted along Semmes Ave by True Timber.

Read more >

The Foundation for Paranormal Research will attempt to “capture and contain” ghosts, etc., at the Pump House in an event from 10:30 am to 12 on Saturday, March 6. The event is open to the public and the press and cameras are welcome. The Pump House is located just north of the Boulevard Bridge.

Full Press Release from The Foundation for Paranormal Research

On March 6th 2010 the Foundation for Paranormal Research will be demonstrating cutting edge technology involving paranormal capture and containment of “ghosts” or foreign entity’s within our personal world. This event is called The 3 Mile Lock Experiment – Conquest. The foundation’s founder Robert Bess, along with his technical containment team, will demonstrate the real existence of ghosts and other worldly entities by actual capture and containment of real ghosts using the foundation’s inventions and techniques. An explanation of the equipment, the theories, and practical applications etc will be given before the event. The environment will be fully lit and fully visible. This is a rare opportunity for skeptics and non-committed believers, etc.

Read more >

Please join the Richmond Public Library and the Richmond Public Schools Arts And Humanities Center as we celebrate the creativity of artists & musicians from Richmond Public Schools.

During March, the Westover Hills Library will exhibit original artwork by students from neighborhood schools and the Thompson Middle School Choir will perform during the opening reception. The reception will take place Thursday, March 4th from 4 – 6 p.m. at the Westover Hills Library located at 1408 Westover Hills Boulevard.

RTD:

City Councilman E. Martin Jewell is stepping up to the plate for Richmond’s first charter school.

The Fifth District representative sent a letter to School Board Chairwoman Kimberly Bridges on Saturday expressing his “deep concern” over lingering issues that could prevent the Patrick Henry School of Science and Arts from opening in July.

He requested a meeting with Richmond Public Schools officials and others to work out the issues.

Issues that are still looming include;

Patrick Henry spokeswoman Kristen Larson said the school’s organizers are grateful for Jewell’s support. She said they still are waiting for a lease to the building and to be recognized within the 2010-11 school budget, which was adopted last month and will be finalized in June after state and city revenue allocations are known.

Larson said the group also is waiting on a response to its three-year handicap-accessible building plan, which was provided to the board last November.

I haven’t had a chance to check it out thoroughly yet and probably won’t today. Let me know what you think. At first glance looks much better. Richmond Public School Website

This one snuck up on me or I would have posted it earlier. Thanks to Modern Atelier since I saw the reminder on her blog. Spring Bada-Bing is awesome and if you are a vendor you have a good chance of taking my money since I always end up spending a bit. You need to act quick applications are due by Friday. If you don’t know what I am talking about check out our previous post which includes a link to the application. I am pretty sure that Modern Atelier will be there and you can pick up the local Forest Hill Scent: “Forest Hill – the original ‘streetcar suburb’, the terminus of which was an amusement park designed to attract families to the outskirts of town, in hopes they would relocate to the quiet bungalows and foursquare houses. The sweet scents of the amusement park are set off by greens and florals.”

Ross of RVAnews has published a “Guide to Drinking Beer in the City“. I have had a beer in all but one and his descriptions are accurate. Check out the comments for some other spots that were left off. Beyond the obvious Capital City Ale House one of the gems left off is Caliente. Below is his review of Legend;

I mean, obvious right? It’s got the best view of the City in the City, and the best porch sit around. The only problem is that March is still, like, in the Winter. Hopefully we’ll get some of that sweet Global Warming California’s got and it’ll turn our weather frown upside down.

Also, I know everyone loves the Brown Ale — it’s their biggest seller; but, dang, that Lager is my jam lately.

Best context: A round of pitchers with the boys (or girls) on that first day of Spring or last day of Summer.

Leg Width to Jean Width Quotient: 0.19

I’ll let you go to the article to figure out the Leg Width to Jean Width Quotient means.

From the folks at Good Shepherd;

The Good Shepherd Episcopal School installed Charles Britton as Head of School on Saturday, February 27, 2010. Good Shepherd has been educating children in the community for 39 years from Preschool through Eighth Grade. Good Shepherd is an affordable VAIS accredited private school option with a great sense of community and low student-teacher ratio. Good Shepherd Episcopal School is currently accepting applications for the 2010/2011 school year. Visit the Good Shepherd web site at www.gses.org for more information.

A Westover Hills resident sent this to the association and now I am sharing it with you.

Sometime last Thursday, during the day, someone wrenched the copper gutter off of the front of our house. I noticed it when I returned home from work. I called the 3rd District Police Dept. They took the report and said that the church on Westover Hills Blvd. was also hit, twice in the same week.

Detectives may have some leads, but that’s all they told me. These people are pretty brazen, because it must have happened in broad daylight. Thanks for letting everyone know.

So if you or your neighbors have copper gutters, downspouts or braided lightning-rod cables keep an eye out for suspicious behavior such as some one ripping off the gutter and shoving into a van or truck.

It is Friday and that means it is time to head on over to Once Upon a Vine after work and try some new wine and/or beer. Sampling from 5 p.m. to 8.

On the beer side, Stephen from Brown tasting Magner’s Cider, Legend Hopfest, Victory Helios, Redhook Treblehook, Heavy Seas Siren Noir, and Southern Tier Cuvee #1. Legend Hopfest is great and the only one of that group I have tasted.

The wine folks will have, Ed from Country Vintner tasting Alto Sur Sav. Blanc and Malbec Rose. Sophenia Cab. Sav. and Malbec.

Yeah I know that the article orignally ran way back in January but it is still a good read. Click on the picture to see and learn more about the house. Thanks to John M. at CHPN for sending me the link in January.

Get on the bus Gus and get your fresh food. The bus will be there until 6 pm. Head to their Facebook page for the full list of products we picked up some apples and breakfast sausage.

The weather is suppose to be even better tomorrow and the Winter Farmer’s Market in the Blanchard’s parking lot should be hopping.

Email Received this morning;
A young male dog was on our front porch on Clarence street, which is behind Westover Hills Elementary, this morning- possibly all night long. He’s a hound of some variety. He recognized a leash right away and warmed up to us pretty quickly, so I’m fairly certain this is someone’s pet. No collar or tags or anything, though. If the owner or someone who knows the owner wants to contact us, they can call Bill @ 366.6742 or Corina @ 357.3929.

As a side note if you have found a pet make sure to ask some questions that only the owner of the pet would know. We certainly don’t want to be giving dogs to the wrong folks.

Boulevardizen has the story and more photos but it appears that the spirits were not pleased with the attempts to be captured at the Pump House today. They took their vengence by trying to take an SUV back with them through a sinkhole. This means either SUVs come from the other side or the roads are real bad in the nether world and an SUV is required.

Photo swiped from Boulevardizen blog, go to his site for more photos and details.

Patrick Henry School of Science and Arts will be holding it’s first lottery March 11, at 7pm as they received more than 250 applications for roughly 150 spots. The lottery is open to the public. The school also announced the breakdown of grades:

K – 3 classes
1st – 2 classes
2nd – 2 classes
3rd – 1 class
4th/5th combined

For more info about the lottery, click through to read the email sent to applicants.

Read more >

Check out what Tim of local blogE.A.T has to say about one of the vendors at our Winter Farmer’s Market.

Another amazing find at the Forest Hill Farmers Market this past Saturday, Sullivans Pond Farm or otherwise known as Bonneyclabber Cheese Company. We purchased an Isabel-Chesapeake Blue which is a pasturized goats milk cheese. 3 ingredients Milk, Salt, and P.Roqueforti. I was really impressed with the packaging of this particular cheese as it was displayed in a moist cheese cloth that really made the product stand out…….

You’ll have to go to the link above to get more details and read some of his other posts.

From Utilibuddy Twitter;

Alternating lanes of Riverside between W. 24th and Westover Hills to close March 8-16 while we trim back tree branches in power lines.

Nothing new just some more press from the blog Richmond BizSense.com on the fact that Blanchard’s will be in Martin’s after the Ukropocalypse.

But for at least one local business, it’s pretty much business as usual when it comes to its relationship with the grocery chain.

Blanchard’s Coffee, located on Forest Hill Avenue near Westover Hills Boulevard, has been roasting and packaging coffee and selling it at Ukrop’s under the Joe’s Market label for the past few years. When Giant-Carlisle bought Ukrop’s, the local coffee roaster worried they would soon lose their biggest customer. The company had been supplying about 1,300 pounds of coffee a month to 18 stores, including the Joe’s Market on Libbie Avenue.

Official City Press Release;

COUNCIL PUBLIC INFORMATION NEWS ADVISORY

Richmond City Council proposes 2010 Richmond Real Estate Tax Rates

All Citizens invited and encouraged to attend

(Richmond , Virginia) – Today, four proposed options for a 2010 Richmond Real Estate Tax Rate were introduced during the scheduled Richmond City Council Formal Meeting. The proposed options include $1.23, $1.22, $1.21 and $1.19. The current Richmond Real Estate Tax rate is $1.20, which would remain the same if no new rate is adopted. The vote on the adoption of a new rate will be Monday April 12, 2010.

Read more >

Saw this morning from RVAbargains tweet;

Bella Vino in Stony Point FP closing – wine 25% off, all else (cheese/cigars/wine racks/art) 40% off

Also this weekend I noticed that Private Stock Cigar & Wine Company in Stratford Hills had closed up shop. The sign on the door said “Closed for Inventory” but unless they took all the merchandise off site to count, they won’t be opening back up. The place was completely empty except for a few fixtures.