Hollywood Cemetery has a marker dedication ceremony in the Soldiers Section on Saturday, April 30. It is scheduled from 2pm to 3 pm and there are plans for rifle fire as part of the ceremony.
Hollywood Rifle Fire On Saturday
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Monthly Archives: April 2016
Trash/Recycling Pickup Tomorrow
This Wednesday is a red Wednesday, which means trash and recycling pickup. Keep in mind, it may storm later tonight.
Ideally, rolling recycling containers are stored and deployed in the back alleys along with trash cans. Please make sure you pick up containers after pickup tomorrow night.
If you have not done so already, don’t forget to sign up for your Recycling Perks.
In order to take your recycling to the next level, read this: 10 ways to improve your recycling.
A couple of additional notes:
Locally, with the school year drawing to a close, it is time for student renters and others who are moving to consider how to deal with all of their stuff. With the City budget strained, it is important that stuff is recycled and disposed of properly, without just dumping it on the sidewalk, street, and alley. I am happy to post neighborhood yard sale notices on this site. I know there is one multi-household one coming up on May 7 on 600 block of S. Laurel Street. There are also certainly a number of local thrift stores and charities that are willing to receive furniture donations. Don’t forget the 19th Annual Big Yard Sale at the University of Richmond on May 14th.
In terms of Oregon Hill neighborhood cleanups, RVA CleanSweep has a Randolph/Oregon Hill litter pickup scheduled for May 21. Meetup link: http://www.meetup.com/RVA-Clean-Sweep/events/228648874/
There is also a alley cleanup planned for early June.
Pool Prods On PILOT
Laurel Street neighbor Charles Pool had a “Correspondent of the Day” letter to the editor in today’s Times Dispatch:
Editor, Times-Dispatch:
Your editorial, “Fix it,” makes some good points regarding Petersburg’s troubled water utility, but what about Richmond’s own deplorable water billing? Unlike Petersburg, Richmond tacks on a payment in lieu of federal income tax onto its water bill. Charging federal income tax on the water bill costs Richmond water customers about $5 million annually and is the most regressive way to raise general funds for the city.
Richmond’s monthly water and sewer service charge, the amount the customer pays before drawing the first gallon of water, is almost $10 higher than Petersburg’s. At $29.03, Richmond’s minimum monthly service charge is one of the highest in the country, and disproportionately penalizes those who conserve water. Many Richmonders are not aware of this high service charge because it is still not shown on the customer’s bill, after years of promising to do so.
Richmond is blessed to own its water utility, but it is wrong to use water, which is a necessity, as a cash cow for padding the city’s general fund. Richmond’s water billing may be more efficient but less fair than Petersburg’s.
Charles Pool.
Richmond.
For more perspective on this, click here. Perhaps Mayoral candidates would like to speak to this issue also.
OHNA Meeting Tomorrow Evening
From email announcement:
Good morning all
Just a reminder that OHNA’s monthly meeting is tomorrow, Tuesday, April 26th, at 7 pm at St. Andrew’s, in the little chapel.
Hope to see you all there
Jennifer
President James Monroe’s Birthday Memorial On Thursday
From Hollywood Cemetery and the FaceBook event page:
President James Monroe’s birthday celebration is an annual event at Hollywood Cemetery. A gravesite presidential wreathlaying ceremony will be hosted by the James Monroe Memorial Foundation. The event will begain at 11:0am, but is subject to any changes by the Army, which conducts the ceremony.
Don’t forget to RSVP for the upcoming Friends Of Hollywood Annual Picnic.
Volunteer Opportunity with Birdhouse Market
Byrd House Market is re-opening this Spring as Birdhouse Farmers Market. The Market could use volunteers for the following needs:
Social media / graphic design – off-site, set your own schedule (4 hours/week)
Tuesdays: various shifts/tasks including Market setup (1-3pm) & breakdown (6-7pm). market info tent/table (2:30-5pm or 5-6:30pm), and face-painting (3:30-5pm)
More information is available at birdhousefarmersmarket.org.
Pedestrian Struck By Car and Killed On Belvidere Street Early This Morning
From WTVR News
Update from Richmond Police Department:
April 23, 2016
Pedestrian in Fatal South Belvidere Collision Identified
A pedestrian involved in a fatal collision with a vehicle this morning on South Belvidere Street has died.
At approximately 1:03 a.m. on Saturday, April 23, Wilson I. Herrarte-Barahona, 19, of the 4800 block of Wheatstone Drive, Fairfax, Va. was attempting to cross the South Belvidere Street crosswalk when he was struck and killed. The incident occurred in the intersection of South Belvidere Street and Cumberland Street.
The vehicle that struck him, a Volkswagen Jetta, was travelling southbound in the center lane on South Belvidere Street when a group of pedestrians crossed the street despite a red traffic signal. A vehicle ahead of the Jetta slowed and came to a stop to avoid striking the group of pedestrians. The driver of the Jetta then changed lanes in an attempt to go around the stopped vehicle.
As the Jetta approached the intersection at Cumberland Street, the group of pedestrians emerged from the front of the stopped vehicle. As the driver of the Jetta attempted to avoid striking the group, the right front of vehicle collided into the decedent. The pedestrian, Herrarte-Barahona, was pronounced dead at the scene.
The RPD Crash Team responded to the scene, where they took measurements and interviewed witnesses. The investigation is still on going.
Detectives ask anyone with any information to call Detective Larry Walker at 646-1709 or Crime Stoppers at 780-1000. Citizens can also submit a tip online at www.7801000.com or text Crime Stoppers at 274637, using the key word “ITip” followed by your tip. All Crime Stoppers methods are anonymous.
Hydro-Electric Proposal and Future Of James River
This morning some people were surprised by this headline in the Times Dispatch: “Application filed for hydroelectric project at Bosher’s Dam”.
If they had attended the author’s talk earlier this week, they might not have been. Tredegar Iron Works and other Richmond industry relied and used hydroelectric power well into the last century.
For myself and perhaps other Oregon Hill residents, this recalls earlier conversations and speculation about riverfront development and ambitions.
Hopefully, regardless of whether the hydroelectric proposal happens or not, it adds on pressure to do something to improve the river’s health and accessibility AS WELL AS forcing Dominion Power to do more with distributed, renewable energy.
Was the City’s utility department authorized to oppose this proposal, submitted in February? And if so, by who?
This also figures into a Kanawha Canal restoration goal that ‘public private partnership’ Venture Richmond unofficially announced earlier this month. I guess the local media is still not ready to report or discuss this yet, but the devil will be in the details- including water levels and water use, recreational opportunities, whether Venture Richmond will respect neighbors’ very reasonable concerns going forward, and costs in relation to other priorities. The City’s Department of Public Utilities manages the Kanawha Canal level as well as the City’s river level. Yes, there’s a Richmond Riverfront Plan, but we all know how these plans are pretty subjective- for example, there’s no Tredegar Green amphitheater in the Plan and there was a previous canal restoration plan that has been thrown aside.
Going back to this hydroelectric proposal, it may be that upriver (and more affluent) neighbors are able to ‘NIMBY‘ it, or maybe the environmental issues with even micro-hydro-electric at this site are too large to overcome, or maybe there is even more interest in the longterm in getting rid of Bosher’s Dam altogether. But the point is, this proposal and others should be part of a more open, public conversation over the future of the James River, local energy/water policy, and our local government.
Peace Essay Contest
Four weeks left to write and send us your entry for the 2016 Peace Essay contest. Open to all Virginia students grades K-12. Cash prizes!
Hoping for Rain…
