You may remember Oregon Hill resident Silver from his run for President.

Also, congratulations and thanks to Jones administration for doing right thing. Its a great start to the new year and city politics.

An announcement of the new Richmond City Council Reporter & Telegraph:

Silver Persinger yesterday launched the Richmond City Council Reporter & Telegraph , a site dedicated to “independent and thorough news and opinion [...] with especial focus on Richmond, Virginia City Council, Free Speech, Free Press, and Open Government.”

From the Richmond City Council Reporter & Telegraph:

“I called the number she provided at 4:51 PM, and it was answered by Margaret Pugh who is serving on the transition team. I asked about the swearing in and she told me about the event on January 10. I asked, “What about the swearing in tomorrow?” To which Ms. Pugh responded that was “more of a personal type of event.” I was shocked and said that it was unusual for a publicly elected official to have a private swearing in. I asked if the Press would be permitted to attend because I would be much more interested in reporting the event than criticizing it as being closed to the public. I left my name and number and Ms. Pugh said she would talk with the Mayor Elect’s assistant.”

From Times-Dispatch:

“The ceremony had been planned to be invitation-only in the city clerk’s office, but Jones ultimately moved the event to the City Council’s chamber and invited the public.”

Published with permission from OH email discussion, another take on the changing relationship between VCU students and the neighborhood:

My observation is that there is an increasing trend for students living in our neighborhood and others surrounding VCU to be ever more and more oblivious to certain aspects of urban living and coexistence, including having loud disturbing parties, putting trash on the sidewalk and even not getting towed during street cleanings. Where is the disconnect here? Are families not preparing their kids for independent college life?

Read the entire email for more…

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Oregon Hill
Oregon Hill once again leads the pack with only 2 crimes in December – one
burglary and one larceny. The burglary occurred at 225 S. Pine St. Unknown
suspect(s) entered the home between 9AM and 3PM on December 27th and stole
electronics. The larceny was of license plates at 611 S. Cherry Street by an
unknown suspect. Please call RPD if you have information on these crimes or any
others.

For the year – you had a 40% decrease in violent crime and a 29% decrease in
property crime. Also – Detective Levin White is following up on some great leads
on violent crime that occurred earlier in the year in your area. Most of the crimes
should be cleared by arrest soon but I can’t give you any details of the investigation
at this time. Hopefully next month I will be able to fill you in.

Sector413/Newsletter link here.

This big tree came down on 500 block of Pine Street recently. Some residents believe this portends new development on this lot, near Mama Zu’s.

The Virginia Girls Choir, a city-wide choir for girls in grades 4-7, will sing Evensong at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Oregon Hill, Sunday, Jan. 11 at 5 p.m. The 20-member choir formed in September 2008 and is a city-wide music ministry of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church. Choristers audition for the competitive slots and come from a variety of schools and backgrounds. The service will feature the music of contemporary American composer Vernon Williams and a setting of Charles Wood’s carol Mater Ora Filium. Evensong is one of the Free and open.

A Times Dispatch obituary pays tribute to a notable Richmond clown, Poppy, aka Betsy Lyons Terry, who was buried in Hollywood Cemetery yesterday. Click here.

This link goes to an online PDF of a printed profile of William Byrd Community House Executive Board President Margaret Friedenberg in the Richmond Free Press. Given the the Free Press’ past treatment of it online content, I doubt this link will work in the long term.

Books on Wheels is now working with Network for Good in accepting donations.
http://www.networkforgood.org/

This service offers a safe and easy way to make a tax-deductible donation to our organization to ensure that we continue in working to provide our services. Please visit our website at www.bookonwheels.com for more information and a link to the donation page if you are interested in donating, or feel free to pass this email on to others that might be interested.

Again, thank you for all your support along the way!!!
Sincerely,

Shelley Briggs, MSW
Co-founder, Books on Wheels
www.bookonwheels.com

The Earthlings Organic Food Coop is still around and had a successful delivery this past Sunday at William Byrd Community House facilities. It is looking for new members.

This Wednesday evening at the Science Museum, the Sierra Club is hosting an open meeting that will feature Anne Darby and Jonah Fogel, with Richmond Area Food System Network, talking about ways to revitalize small farms and farmers, reduce the distance that food travels, and restoring value to fresh foods.

At this month’s Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association meeting on Jan. 27 there will be a brief presentation by Dr. Alan Towne on Emergency Research, which may include some food topics…or epilepsy.

Written and Submitted by Elizabeth Chaney

The Richmond City Council voted this evening on Resolution 2008 R152, a measure requiring all city construction projects to meet LEED Green Building Rating System’s Silver rating. All but one council member voted “Aye,” the one “No” coming from practicing architect and 1st district (West End) representative, Bruce Tyler.

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