Author Archives: Scott

VCU Drone Warfare Event On Wednesday

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From the FaceBook event page:

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The Arab Student Association at VCU is hosting an event to raise awareness regarding the illegal use of drone strikes still taking place in countries such as Yemen, Pakistan,Somalia etc. We have guest speakers coming to inform you of the reality of these drone strikes that continue to happen until today. It will be in the form of a discussion panel. You all get to engage and ask our guest speakers all the questions you have. Admission is free. The event will be in the Richmond Salons located upstairs in the student commons.

Va. War Memorial Honors African-American Veterans Tonight

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The Virginia War Memorial will be holding a program this evening to commemorate Black History Month and honor the contributions of African Americans in the U.S. Armed Services. It will include a reception and presentation of the motion picture, Veterans of Color. It will include a tribute to the late Admiral Gravely, a Richmond native and the first African American to command a U.S. Navy ship. For more information, please click here to see a press release by the Virginia War Memorial.

Virginia Emancipation Proclamation Monument For Brown’s Island

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This past Friday, local architect Burt Pinnock gave a public talk at the University of Richmond entitled “Race In Architecture: Can Memorialization and Development Coexist?”.

Although most of the presentation was philosophical in nature with the subtext of the raging Shockoe Bottom controversy, Mr. Pinnock did generously show some slides of VERY PRELIMINARY ideas for the proposed Virginia Emancipation Proclamation and Freedom Monument for Browns Island. These visuals showed a raised structure that would offer enclosed meditative space with slats that would allow light to come in.

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It will be interesting to see if this proposal, or the controversial ‘Tredegar Green’ amphitheater proposal, will be allowed for discussion at tonight’s Riverfront Plan forum. It’s worth noting that the Proclamation Monument proposal has not been without some controversy, and its worth remembering that Browns Island has been brought up as an alternative to the Kanawha Canal site for the proposed amphitheater.

“RVA and Rapid Transit: Where Are We? Where Do We Need to Be?”

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From Richmond.com:

With an international bicycle race coming to town next year(!), Richmond needs to seriously get to work a bus rapid transit system to make sure all the spectators can get from point A to point B quickly and safely – and hopefully do a lot of dining and shopping while they’re here. – D.W.

GRTC held a public meeting in August 2013 to present a plan for Bus Rapid Transit in the Broad Street corridor. “GRTC and its partners in the plan, including the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation, presented the plan for the rapid transit between Rocketts Landing and Willow Lawn and talked about economic and environmental impact studies of the service,” according to a report in the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
If BRT ever happened, clearly it won’t be ready in time for the UCI World Cycling Championships in September 2015. I do know that Richmond 2015 is working with regional planners on shuttle services and transportation to move the fans around during the two-week cycling event, but that is not part of the BRT proposal.
“The plan calls for creating a 7.6-mile dedicated bus route from Rocketts Landing to Willow Lawn, mostly along Broad Street. For most of the route, the service would operate in a newly created bus-only lane in the middle of Broad Street. It would offer service as frequently as once every five minutes and use on-board technology to control traffic signals at intersections, allowing it to proceed with a minimum number of stops. The service would be in addition to regular local route service,” according to the Times-Dispatch report.
“If constructed as proposed, the new service would decrease travel time for riders by up to 65 percent and increase ridership by more than a third, to about 5,000 passengers a day. It would have 14 stops. The project would cost about $68 million in capital improvements and require about $4 million in annual operating costs. About half the capital costs could be covered by federal grants, with the state and local governments making up the other half.”

Meanwhile, this Thursday, at U of R downtown…

Thursday, February 20, 12:30-1 p.m.
RVA and Rapid Transit: Where Are We? Where Do We Need to Be?
Andrew Terry, Assistant Pastor at Richmond Hill

TAKE 30 is a 30-minute lunchtime series, led by University of Richmond professors and community leaders, to consider questions in the arts, humanities, sciences, business, and law. Each TAKE 30 is free and open to the public.