From announcement:

Graphic design students at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) have
created posters on predatory lending as part of their senior seminar
class. The posters were designed in order to stimulate a discussion on
payday, car title and other types of predatory loans. Jay Speer,
Executive Director of the Virginia Poverty Law Center (VPLC), and Dana
Wiggins, Coordinator for the Virginia Partnership to Encourage
Responsible Lending (VaPERL), provided the students with information and
the many issues that arise from these types of loans. Laura Chessin, an
Associate Professor at VCU’s Graphic Design Department, teaches the
senior seminar class and oversaw the project.

The public is invited to come see these posters on Friday, December 4th
from 6-8 p.m. at Main Street Gallery on 1509 W. Main St. in Richmond.
The free viewing is an opportunity for people to not only see the work
done by these students, but to also engage in a dialogue on predatory
lending in Virginia.

Please contact Urmila Oberoi at 804-782-9430 x15 or urmila@vplc.org to
find out more about the poster viewing on December 4th.

From City press release:

For Immediate Release
Dec. 4, 2009

Media Contacts:
Tesha Davis – (804) 646-3998
Christy Everson – (804) 646-5944

Free holiday performance set for Dec. 6 at Landmark

The Richmond Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities will present its annual holiday gift to the city, its production of “Amahl and the Night Visitors,” at 4 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 6, at the Landmark Theater.
The musical tells the story of the mischievous shepherd boy Amahl and his mother, whose lives are changed forever after meeting three kings. It’s a heartwarming and humorous story that will charm and delight the entire family.
This is the department’s 48th year of offering this free holiday musical, which with its all-volunteer cast, has become a Richmond tradition.
The performance is free and no reservations are required.
###

I spent part of yesterday evening enjoying the First Friday Art Walk on Broad Street. I got the chance to briefly speak with its main organizer Christina Newton, who was dutifully working the Curated Culture/First Fridays booth and table right there on Broad. I won ‘nada’ from the “zero sum game”/bailout register at the Metro Space Gallery (CannonballPress.com exhibit).

I saw many Oregon Hill neighbors- including just of a few of the neighborhood artists. Mary from China Street was there with some her hats and scarfs. She says she has also had good luck selling her wares at the South of the James Farmer’s Market.

The Schindler Satellite Gallery has a strong Oregon Hill representation. David Rohrer has his oil painting, “Alley 2, Oregon Hill” there:
While Julie Elkins exhibits her porcelain wall sculpture, “Oregon Hill Blue”.

Other artists at the Schindler Satellite include Jennifer Holloway Bopst, Lisa Taranto, R. Sawan White, and Chris Milk. My neighbor British Bob, a big First Fridays fan, told me that Chris Milk used to be one of Skillet’s roommates on China Street.

I have some sad news.

Jack Rose, a musician who spent a lot of time in Oregon Hill, has died
of an apparent heart attack at his home in Philadelphia.

Jack hung out a lot at 238 S. Cherry back when it was the base for
Radioactive Records and Pelt.

There have been a few reports of petty thefts from yards and porches in the neighborhood.

One neighbor reported that someone cut a electric cord to steal a reindeer Christmas decoration from front yard, while another has had a rocking chair stolen right off front porch.

There will be a Pearl Harbor observance at the Virginia War Memorial on Belvidere Street at 11 am, tomorrow (Monday). Pearl Harbor survivors will be on hand to help remember those who died in the Japanese attack on December 7, 1941.

Recently the Sierra Club Falls of the James Group blog ran a cursory review of area colleges and universities. It basically cruised through school media to glean more information on environmental initiatives.

Of course the biggest, Virginia Commonwealth University, Oregon Hill’s neighbor to the north, received the treatment:

Checking On VCU…
I did not get a chance to go to Project Winterfood on Wednesday night, but I do want to commend it anyway. Graphic design students promote locally grown food and community, which is great for the environment. Click here for Commonwealth Times article.

VCU’s green initiative was discussed as part of student organization’s funding forum:

“SGA Vice President Roberto Celis introduced the university’s green initiative as another key priority. Celis said students, faculty and staff will have to make a behavioral change in order to reach the goals laid out in the President’s Climate Commitment.

Grant Matthews, a representative for the VCU Office of Sustainability, said the overall goal is to develop a climate action plan that will promote energy conservation and new projects.

Matthews said over the next 41 years, VCU should reach carbon neutrality.”

Note to VCU- 41 years is way too long. Click here for article.

In exciting news, VCU is looking at more solar-

“VCU’s Director of Sustainability Jacek Ghosh, said the state might fund the university for more solar projects on campus, which could lead to solar panels on parking garages.

“The final details are being negotiated,” Ghosh stated in an e-mail. “The Commonwealth of Virginia can be very slow in these matters.”

Late last summer, VCU installed a system of 30 solar panels on the MCV Campus Steam Plant, which provides steam power for heating and sterilization for much of the MCV Campus, the VCU Health System and nearby state and private office buildings in downtown Richmond.

This 6.6-kilowatt solar panel array helps VCU offset about 7,000 metric tons of carbon gases each year.

The solar panels on the MCV Campus Steam Plant were installed by City Space Solar, a renewable energy company that focuses on solar energy in residential and commercial construction.

VCU has installed two PV solar-powered trash compactors, the one at the Stuart C. Siegel Center helps manage waste after sporting, concert and other large-scale events.

The solar-powered trash compactors have five times the capacity of standard trashcans with fewer collections and up to 80-percent emissions reductions.

According to the BigBelly Web site, energy from the sun is the only new input Earth receives every day and it is free, silent and non-polluting. In 20 days, the sun provides the equivalent amount of energy that is contained in all of the coal, oil and gas reserves combined.

VCU has added the first solar thermal system to the historic Ginter House on Monroe Park Campus. The system reduces the building’s hot water CO2 emissions by 77 percent annually, which saves 13,400 KBTU, according to the Richmond By Solar Web site.”

Its worth remarking that as VCU has expanded further into what was historically Oregon Hill, residents have asked for VCU to go more green to help the LOCAL environment.

And like I said, its not just VCU. University of Richmond, Virginia Union, and even Richard Bland were also featured on the blog.

It’s also worth noting that this Wednesday is the Sierra Club Falls of the James Group’s annual holiday fundraiser at the Virginia Science Museum.

From announcement:

SynerGeo would like to invite you to our children’s art show on Thursday,
Dec. 10, 5:30-7pm. We will have some refreshments and we hope you can
make it out to see the great works they have created during our studies of
Chinese art.

We are located on the corner of Laurel and Albermarle streets, look for
our blue building. Our newsletter will be delivered this week.

Thanks,

Bonnie

–
” Not all who wander are lost”

Bonnie Hofmeyer
SynerGeo, Inc.
804.648.2287
www.synergeo.org

From the Times Dispatch (this follows coverage for his arrest in October):

Richmond City Councilman E. Martin Jewell pleaded no contest yesterday to driving under the influence in October and apologized to his constituents and the community.

“I made a mistake. I should not have driven after drinking,” the 5th District council member said outside Richmond’s John Marshall Courts Building.

Substitute Judge Randy Rowlett fined Jewell $500, with $250 suspended, and imposed a 90-day jail sentence with the time suspended for three years. Jewell’s driver license also was suspended for 12 months, but he will be allowed to drive to and from work, including City Council functions. Jewell is owner of Total Home Care, a residential cleaning service.

In addition, Jewell was referred to the Virginia Alcohol Safety Action Program, an anti-drunken-driving school that will last at least 10 weeks. Attorney Craig Cooley, who represented Jewell, said the punishment was standard for a first-time offender such as Jewell.

Richmond police pulled over and arrested the councilman about 1:30 a.m. Oct. 24 near Byrd Park. Cooley said Jewell’s blood-alcohol reading was 0.11 percent. In Virginia, a motorist is presumed to be legally intoxicated with a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.08 percent or higher. Cooley noted that Jewell’s level was below the 0.15 percent that would trigger mandatory jail time.

The state’s maximum punishment for first-offense DUI, a Class 1 misdemeanor, is one year in jail and a $2,500 fine.

From a neighbor….

tonite about 10:30PM RPD in what seems to be pursuit of a small truck
going south (wrong way) on S Cherry street. Truck loses control and
hits tree in 200 block S Cherry and driver gets out and runs. Police
swarm all over the place with many cruisers, briefly closing 200
block S Cherry. Not sure if suspect apprehended.

This is just what appeared to have occurred and not official police
record.

broken car glass in front of William Byrd Community House