Author Archives: Scott

Auction Sale, 1862

Posted on by
Reply

From The Daily Dispatch: February 10, 1862:

Seven Houses and Lots, and several vacant Lots, in the town of Sidney, at Auction.
–We will sell upon the premises, on Monday, the 17th day of February, commencing at 4 o’clock, P. M., in the order advertised:

1. Four tenements on the West side of Cherry street, South of the Westham Plank Road.
2. Three Tenements on Cumberland st., adjoining the above.
3. Fifty feet of vacant ground on Cumberland street.
4. Two hundred and five feet of vacant ground on Cumberland street.
The tenements are all occupied by good tenants, and commanding good rents. We invite, particularly, the attention of persons of limited means to this sale.

Terms–One-third cash; the balance at 6 and 12 months, for negotiable notes, with interest added, and secured in each case by a trust deed.

The taxes and insurance for 1862 to be paid by the purchaser.

Jas. M. Taylor & Son,

ja 31 Auctioneers.

Additional.–Will be added to the above sale two frame tenements on Laurel street, adapted for small-sized families. The lots have the usual front and depth. Terms as above. J. M. T. & Son,

fe 7 Auctioneers.

2BNB Bus Gets Museum/Tourism Connected

Posted on by
4

Excerpt from press release:

Richmond, VA – The popular To the Bottom and Back (2BNB) free nighttime bus service today launched a pilot tourism route. The route, called To the Museums and Back is a free bus service running Feb. 19-May 15 to coincide with the VMFA exhibit, Picasso: Masterpieces from the Musée National Picasso, Paris. The goal of the program is to provide an easy way for museum visitors and Richmonders alike to get to additional museums and historic sites around downtown Richmond.

Two buses, operated by 2BNB, will run a 50-minute loop stopping approximately every half hour every Saturday 10 a.m.-6 p.m. When the museum service ends, visitors may take advantage of the existing 2BNB service that runs 6 p.m.-3 a.m.

“A tourism circulator has been needed for quite some time,” said Jack Berry, president and CEO of the Richmond Metropolitan Convention and Visitors Bureau. “This route wouldn’t be possible without 2BNB, who has the existing buses, drivers and guides to make it work. However, the idea to do it now came directly from Richmond magazine Editor Susan Winiecki.” Winiecki appealed to the community for a tourism circulator in the magazine’s January issue.

In addition to brochures outlining the route, riders can track real-time bus location online or most any smart phone through 2BNB GPS bus tracking. Temporary signs will mark the stops along the route.

Judging from the website/brochure, it looks like the B2B bus will go along W. Cary Street going east, then Main St. going west. It stops at Tredegar Civil War Center also.
It says it will stop for you if you hold up your hand.

General Assembly In Violation of Virginia Constitution?

Posted on by
5

Despite the opposition and hard work of Oregon Hill’s state senator, Donald McEachin, the Virginia General Assembly Senate passed Senate Bill 1025. An identical bill (HB 2123) passed in the House of Delegates last month, and Governor Bob McDonnell is expected to sign the legislation into law.

These bills, if signed into law, would tie the hands of Virginia officials, restricting their ability to use the effluent testing and water quality monitoring necessary to protect Virginia’s waterways and communities from the severe impacts of surface mining. The law would also repeal the State Water Control Board’s authority over an important category of pollution discharge permits, eroding the authority of this board of citizen experts.

This violates Virginia’s Constitution. Section 1 of Article XI of the Virginia constitution is particularly relevant, and I quote it here (bolding added for emphasis):

To the end that the people have clean air, pure water, and the use and enjoyment for recreation of adequate public lands, waters, and other natural resources, it shall be the policy of the Commonwealth to conserve, develop, and utilize its natural resources, its public lands, and its historical sites and buildings. Further, it shall be the Commonwealth’s policy to protect its atmosphere, lands, and waters from pollution, impairment, or destruction, for the benefit, enjoyment, and general welfare of the people of the Commonwealth.

“Clean water and clean air have been assaulted from day one of this General Assembly session. Whether it’s loopholes in the permitting process for coal mines, or extending coal subsidies in Virginia, this General Assembly has done all they can to create a safety net for the coal industry,” said J.R. Tolbert, assistant director of the Virginia Chapter of the Sierra Club. “If we didn’t know any better, you’d think Virginia had become a corporate welfare state.”

Where does the Tea Party stand on this one? Or do they only care about certain parts of the federal Constitution?

Open The Canal – From “Access Week” On James River News Hub

Posted on by
Reply

Last week, fairly new community news site James River News Hub hosted “Access Week”, where it looked at various ways to make the James River more accessible and usable by the public. Here is what it said about the Kanawha Canal:

Secondly, open up the canal behind Dominion at Oregon Hill to form a circuit for paddlers from Tredegar to Pump House Park. I’ve done field research by scouting some of the land one might see along the canal. That one might be a tougher sell to CSX and would require a lot more effort for the paddlers to get about two miles up river.

Although we have not seen it yet, Oregon Hill residents have asked that the new canal bridge be high enough to accommodate boats eventually.

The Latest On Richmond Public Schools and ADA

Posted on by
Reply

Dovi delivers on the Richmond Magazine site:

The Richmond Public School administration hasn’t renewed its contract with the construction management firm overseeing the school district’s efforts to bring its buildings into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act by 2013. The district plans to ask the city administration to provide ADA-compliance oversight, and other consolidation of city and school services may be on the way.

P. Andy Hawkins, the district’s chief operating officer, says the district has informed McDonough Boylard and Peck that it will no longer provide oversight on ADA construction compliance, which was started after a 2006 out-of-court settlement agreement between the Richmond School Board and a group of parents and students.

Continue reading →

Open High School – One of the Metro’s Best

Posted on by
2

At China and S. Pine, from Richmond Magazine article:

This year, Richmond’s Open High was once again included in U.S. News & World Report’s list of best high schools. A magnet school of less than 200 students, it takes about 20 percent to 25 percent of those who apply. Open High was awarded the magazine’s Bronze Medal, notable because the publication considered more than 27,000 schools before compiling its top schools list.

Principal Candace Veney-Chaplin says Open High uses relationships and relevance to help students perform well. “Sometimes students achieve for a teacher because they know they’re valued as people,” she says. Teachers focus on putting course content in a “real-world context” so that students understand the point of learning it, she says. For example, a statistics teacher uses the numbers from real political polls. She says that a history instructor teaches from the 20th century backward, so students can more easily relate the contemporary world to the past. The philosophy has been the cornerstone of the school since it was formed in 1972 through the impetus of parents who petitioned the Richmond School Board.

Open High also uses experience in the community to teach. A student who wants to be a veterinarian might work for the SPCA, while a student who wants to be a dentist might work as an assistant in a nearby practice. Students are motivated because they’re learning about what they dream of doing, Chaplin says. Virtually all students go on to some form of higher education after they graduate — 80 percent to 85 percent attend four-year universities and most of the rest attend community colleges.