This beautiful black snake was on China Street. Photo supplied by Garrett Edwards.
Sunbathing Snake
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Author Archives: Scott
‘First Man’ Friday
Community Movie Night
Friday, May 24 at Dusk in Pleasants Park
Free Refreshments Served
195 Ramp Closed Tomorrow
A reminder that the ramp onto 195 North on Idlewood (just west of South Cherry Street) will be closed tomorrow from 7 am to 3pm.
Trash/Recycling Pickup Tomorrow
This Wednesday is a “Red Wednesday”, which means trash and recycling pickup. 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.
The good news is that, as this Connecticut newspaper article says, “Recycling ‘still working’ despite fiscal stress.”
Glass — largely lacking value because it’s often broken and dirtied by random goods in the “single stream” — travels by rail to a recycler in North Carolina. Trailers haul plastic to processors and recyclers in Pennsylvania or Canada, or to New York and New Jersey ports shipping material to South Korea. And paper makes its way to mills in West Virginia, Canada or 9,000 miles away in Malaysia.
Note there’s still so much room for improvement. The state of Virginia ranks 34 in the nation overall for recycling, according to a recent article in the West Potomac High School ‘The Wire’ newspaper. Also…
In Europe and Washington State, laws have been introduced banning the use of single-use plastics. Examples of single-use plastics include straws, plastic plates, and plastic cutlery. A study done by the United Nations (UN), shows that the world produces over 40 million tons of plastic per year. This ban is meant to cut down on the amount of plastic that is thrown away, as plastic does not decompose easily in nature. According to the New York Times Marine scientists in Ireland found plastic in 73% of 233 deep sea fish in the northwest Atlantic Ocean.
Another study done by the UN shows that North America uses 21% of all the single use plastics in the world. This number is only topped by the 26% used in Northeast Asia, in countries including China and Japan. The study also shows that of all the plastic waste generated in the world, 79% sits in landfills or is littered into the environment, while only 9% of plastic waste is properly recycled.
Pirate History
“Arriving at the gallows, which were at the north side of the State Penitentiary on the western outskirts of Richmond, a massive crowd estimated at 7,000 gathered on a nearby hill called “Oregon,” then ogled and strained to watch the hapless prisoners ascend the platform. A Priest and a Protestant Minister prayed with them through an interpreter. The three requested in Spanish that the people pray for their souls and their bodies be properly buried.
After the ropes around their necks were fastened to the heavy oak crossbeam, an officer pulled the cord that dropped the platform.
But things did not go as planned.”
So reads a portion of a new Medium piece by local writer Dale Brumfield, entitled “Frankenstein and the Three Spaniards”. Brumfield, a Throttle magazine alumnus, has a knack for finding juicy Virginia history- he wrote a book on Oregon Hill’s former neighbor, the Virginia State Penitentiary. He also has a new novel out called “Naked Savages”. While the pirate story has been written about before, Brumfield’s account adds the tantalizing detail that the executed pirates were reinterred in a single unmarked grave in Oregon Hill, where they have remained undisturbed. There’s more history to be uncovered…
Photos From Friday’s March
While Dominion’s RiverRock festival is still raging on the riverfront, here are some photos from Friday’s poignant environmental justice march, which ended with a rally at the Overlook. The official title was “End Environmental Racism Now: March With Union Hill, and it brought people of many faiths and ideologies (including Green Party) together to protest gas pipeline construction in Virginia. WRIC, Channel 8 news, did a good job of not only supplying video of the event, but informing people of the bigger picture (click here for story). While a few neighbors expressed some nervousness regarding this political happening outside their doors, they were gratified that the march organizers did a good job of making sure the area was clean afterwards.
Summer Flowers
NOTICE: VHDA Board Meeting
From the Virginia Housing Development Authority website:
A meeting of the Board of Commissioners of the Virginia Housing Development Authority will be held at 1:00 p.m. on May 21, 2019, in the Board Room on the First Floor of its offices located at 601 South Belvidere Street, Richmond, Virginia. The Board may also meet during meals before or after the meeting on May 21, 2019. No time period has been scheduled during the meeting for public comment.
Protect The Miner Bees
No, these are not the new Oregon Hill bees, but a different type that can be found on Belle Island. Miner bees (the correct scientific name for this genus being ‘Andrena’) are one of the largest groups of solitary bees. It is believed to consist of over 1,300 known species of bees across the world.
In general, they seem to prefer to build nests in sandy soil, although some species are apparently less fussy, whilst others are more selective. The Ashy mining bee, Andrena cineraria is thought to prefer sloping sites, whereas the Grey-patched mining bee, Andrena nitida will nest in formal lawns but also sheep-grazed hillsides. They build little tunnels that look sort of like worm casts.
Neighbors are concerned about the increased activity due to Dominion River Rock and other outdoor events that could disturb the Belle Island miner bees, and asked that the City park keepers put some of these signs back up.
‘Terminate The Lease’ Rally On Friday
From email announcement:
Dear Friends
This Friday, May 17th at 4PM there will be a peaceful rally asking to TERMINATE THE LEASE on Monroe Park held by the Monroe Park Conservancy. This will occur at Monroe Park across from the big tent. We will gather on Main st.
All members of the community are invited. The Monroe Park Conservancy holds a 30 year lease (since 2014) on the City’s oldest and most historic municipal park, purchased in 1851 by the City. The Park was reopened last Autumn after a 22 month renovation overseen by the City and the Monroe Park Conservancy. During that “renovation”, a substantial portion of the historic tree canopy was destroyed, ALL public restrooms were removed, the WWII Memorial was desecrated by a large electrical box and poorly planned and executed pathways were installed that wash gravel dust into the sewer system whenever it rains. Its time for the City to terminate this lease and start fresh on a new plan to fix all the things that went wrong under the Monroe Park Conservancy. Additionally, a recent City audit found that $345,000.00 used in the botched “renovation” was billed to the City’s School Building Fund. We ask that City officials work in partnership with the stake holding community to achieve positive changes in the Park.
Thank you,
Todd Woodson, director
Fans of Monroe Park
(Editor’s note: The Sierra Club Falls Of The James has previously called for ending the lease.)