From the RTD:

A man who robbed a South Richmond coffee shop, nearly shot an employee and led police on a foot chase, will spend 13 years in prison.

Richmond Circuit Judge Theodore J. Markow sentenced Eddie James Edwards III today to 20 years for the robbery charge and suspended half of the sentence, plus three years for use of a firearm in a felony.

The robbery occurred about 11:30 a.m. on Oct. 9, 2008, at Crossroads Coffee and Ice Cream in the 2600 block of Forest Hill Avenue.

In my random internet stumblings I ran across local artist Will Goodwin’s blog and his painting below of Crossroads. He has another one of our local coffee joint on the website and some other fine works. Make sure and check him out.

This is one in a series entitled “Painting around Richmond” which described on his blog as:

This is some work from my last semester in Communication Arts @ VCU. This work was all drawn from life, and painted from life, from photos and from memory. All locations were locally owned and operated shops in Richmond and was also an exersize in getting the life and whatever that’s in my sketchbook into my work. I can feel it starting to get there.

Thanks for sharing Will.

Design*Sponge is a daily website dedicated to home and product design run by Brooklyn-based writer, Grace Bonney. In addition to DIY projects, reviews of stores, and much more the site also publishes City Design Guides and the latest is our very own Richmond.

For the Southside a quick overview is given of Caravati’s, Williams & Sherrill, Gather, Legend Brewing, Savor, and Planet Zero Art Center.

I would add Crossroads for their local coffee house art scene, Plaza Bowl for the music and hipsters, and Pony Pasture because it has that whole nature thing going for it. What did I miss? Remember your choice should come from a design standpoint.

The Patrick Henry School of Science and Arts website has been updated but here are some of the highlights.

Over 1,500 books were received for the PHSSA book sale on June 6th and raised $861. The unsold books will be used for a future sale.

Ukrop’s Golden Gift Certificates were collected at Crossroads and the final tally was 11,819.33 points of which the school will receive 2 percent in a donation from Ukrop’s.

Not on the website but received in the email newsletter: PHSSA will be hosting a table at the Sunday in the Park with Friends event (details on this event to be posted soon) sponsored by the office of Kathy Graziano and Friends of Forest Hill Park. The event will take place July 19 from noon till 4 p.m. PHSSA will have an area where children can make a sun print. We also will take families on guided excursions in Forest Hill Park to play nature bingo. The excursion groups will assemble several times throughout the afternoon. Stop by the PHSSA tent during the event for more details.

The position of principal has been posted on the Careers and Employment section. Description and application…….

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I have a large, aggressive monkey on my back and it’s name is caffeine! Personally, I’m a fan of the skinny vanilla latte. Of course there are several st@rbucks nearby but I prefer to keep our local merchants busy. So here’s a list of good coffee available in the hills and heights area. Am I missing any places? Add them in the comments and I’ll update our list here!

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The RTD is reporting that “Richmond police have charged a man in a single-vehicle crash in front of a South Richmond coffee shop early [yesterday].” The driver, Alkaly Leo Keita, was charged with eluding police, driving without a license, having an open container and driving under the influence. Keita refused to stop at the Lee Bridge and led police on a chase that culminated in a crash “into a sign, a trash can and some tables and chairs outside the Crossroads coffee shop”.

A noon-ish robbery at Crossroads saw shots fired both inside and outside the store- all by the robber apparently. Fortunately, nobody was caught in the crossfire. The T-D says a suspect was picked up near George Wythe shortly thereafter. Hopefully losses and damages to Crossroads are minimal and business as usual resumes shortly.