Category Archives: News

Finally, ZipCar

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Glad to see this…(I have been asking for about three years..)

RichmondBizSense:
Finally, Zipcar is in Richmond

Zipcar is known for renting cars, usually the environmentally friendly type, by the hour in cities and college campuses across the country. Before coming to Richmond, Zipcar already had cars at the University of Virginia, Old Dominion University and The College of William & Mary.
That’s why it was hard to discern why the company continued to bypass Richmond. BizSense has an inquiry in to Zipcar’s corporate headquarters to find out why Richmond finally got its chance.

TimesDispatch:
VCU offers Zipcars, additional bus service

The cars are not limited to student use, though clean driving records are required. VCU students must be 18 years old and community members at least 21 to rent a car at a cost of $8 an hour on weekdays and $9 on weekends. That includes gas, insurance and 180 free miles.

There’s also an annual membership fee of $35 for students, faculty and staff. Drivers not affiliated with VCU pay a $50 annual fee plus a $25 application fee.

Newspaper Story on New Student Housing East of Belvidere

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The Times Dispatch ran this story today:

Private housing for VCU going up east of Belvidere

Excerpts:

Gilbane Development Co. of Providence, R.I., said its 540-bed, eight-story apartment building off Canal Street should be ready for the start of the 2011 school year.

“We’ll start leasing over the next month,” said Russell Broderick, vice president and senior development manager for Gilbane. “Students will move in in August 2011.”

The $18 million building, designed by Grant Architects of Baltimore, includes 160 apartment units on six levels, and parking on two levels.

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Rents will be in the range of $600 to $700 per person, Broderick said. The units will be furnished.

“We’re excited to offer students a modern environment including amenities which appeal to today’s lifestyle, including flat-screen televisions, in-unit washer/dryers, and full kitchens,” Robert V. Gilbane, chairman and CEO of Gilbane Development, said in a statement.

Campus Advantage will offer students activities designed to create a thriving student community.

The green project was designed in accordance with the LEED — Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design — accreditation system, the development company said.

The project — called 8½ Canal Street — broke ground in early spring.

With 32,000 students, but only 4,882 spaces for students in university housing, VCU believes demand is sufficient to fill both its own residence halls and privately developed projects…

The Polluted James River

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While there has been some progress in cleaning up the river, this newspaper report reminds us all that there are still problems to be addressed:

Of local interest, the report disclosed additional problems with the James River in Richmond.

The stretch from the Boulevard Bridge to just upriver from the Mayo Bridge — an area popular with paddlers, waders and swimmers — was listed as polluted with mercury and the long-banned pesticides DDT and chlordane.

That stretch already was known to be polluted by fecal bacteria, primarily from the waste of wildlife and upriver cattle, among other sources.

DEQ spokesman Bill Hayden said the additional pollutants don’t pose a threat to people in the river. They primarily mean that eating fish from that stretch could be unsafe.

Gerel said, “More than likely all this has been there forever, and we just haven’t caught it” until now.

Some mercury, however, could be getting in the river from air pollution from coal-burning power plants, Gerel said.

St. Andrew’s Church to host a Ugandan photo exhibition

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You may have already seen the flyers in the neighborhood or maybe the Style magazine article or the newspaper article, but here’s information about an event happening this Friday:

Joanita Senoga, a single mother of two who fled her village in Uganda in 1996, came to America with virtually nothing, and is now an alumna and employee of University of Richmond. In 1994, two years before fleeing home, she started Circle of Peace School in Uganda for children who could not afford an education there (as education is not free there). The school is now 250 students strong.

St. Andrew’s Church will host a photo exhibition, “Images of Hope: What Would You Buy With $50?” on August 27 at 6:30 p.m. Proceeds benefit the Circle of Peace School development efforts – specifically, funding will go to a final payment to secure land for building classrooms and dormitories.

Students of the school in the village of Makindye, Uganda were asked what they would buy with $50, and these children responded by drawing what they would buy. None of these children have ever had $50 in their whole life.

The campaign needs help – it is trying to raise $18,000 by September 1 to make a final payment on land the school will be able to use to expand the campus to build classrooms and dormitories.

Here are a few photos:

Byrd Market tomorrow and Cameroon cooking Saturday

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Byrd House Market presents

the fabulicious
Susan Greenbaum
locally grown corporate babe turned singer/songwriter
Tuesday August 24
5:30 – 7:30 pm
AND
4th Tuesday Wine Down
featuring the fine fermentations of

and

Grayhaven Wines on sale from 3:30 – 8:00 pm / Tastings begin at 6:00 pm

(Market Hours Extended to 8pm on 4th Tuesdays)

Vendors returning from breaks include:
A Wise Gardener
Manakintowne Specialty Growers
Simply Delicious
Jill Parker Designs
and

Saturday 28 Aug. 9:30 am -12 noon
Cooking as a 2nd Language #6
Cuisine from Camaroon with Yvette Zintseme
(pronounced Zeen-chem)
Registration Necessary & Re-Confirmations Due Wednesday 8/25!

Earth Aid and Richmond

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First the info:

The City of Richmond has partnered with Earth Aid as part of its Green Richmond Initiative to help promote energy conservation and efficiency in our community, and to enable Richmond residents, our partners, and the community as a whole to track their energy and water usage online!

EarthAid.net/richmond is a free service that enables your household to track all of your actual electric, gas, and water utility usage in one place online, compare your usage to friends and neighbors, and find easy ways to save money. In addition, you earn Earth Aid Rewards Points based on how much energy and water you save at home—points you can redeem for discounts and offers at over 200 local, regional, and national participating businesses, including dozens right here in Richmond!

Second, the ask:

If you are an Oregon Hill resident, I invite you to join the Richmond Oregon Hill group by clicking here. Hopefully, more on this aspect later…

Third, the follow-up:

The local Sierra Club group is starting off its fall season on with meeting program entitled: Richmond Sustainability and Reducing your Utilities Usage! The meeting is on Wednesday, Sept. 8 at 7 pm at the Science Museum of Virginia. As with all of its general meetings, attendance is free and the public is invited to attend.

It will feature at least two speakers:

Alicia Zatcoff is the first Sustainability Manager for the City of Richmond. In this role, she provides strategic direction, development and daily oversight of a complex, city-wide Sustainability and Energy Management Program. Zatcoff has over twelve years of local government experience in areas including municipal law, governmental process, complex real estate transactions, community development, public safety and sustainability.

Tabitha Daniel is a Marketing and Public Relations Specialist for the City of Richmond Department of Public Utilities, and is excited to promote the city’s partnership with Earth Aid, a union she describes as a “win-win for everyone, especially the environment.”

VCU Move In Days this weekend

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Email from VCU:

MPC move in map.2010

Friends of VCU,

It is time for all new and returning VCU students to begin moving in. This process may impact all of us in different ways. In an effort to better manage, I am attaching our move in maps for both the Monroe Park Campus and the MCV campus. We will begin blocking off surrounding streets at approximately 6:00 a.m. on both Saturday and Sunday and will end the process at 7pm on Saturday and 6pm on Sunday. I am also attaching the informational letter we send to students about how the process works.

Ron Brown