This Friday’s Community Movie Night: Fly Away Home

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From FaceBook event page:

Join us for our Outdoor Movie in Oregon Hill’s Pleasants Park. We will be showing “Fly Away Home.”After Amy (Anna Paquin) loses her mother in a car accident, she must uproot her life and move to Canada to live with her father, Thomas, (Jeff Daniels), an oddball inventor with whom she has no relationship. She initially struggles to find her her place in her new home, but things change when she stumbles upon a collection of abandoned goose eggs. When the eggs hatch, Amy and her dad work together teaching the motherless birds to fly south for the winter, and their relationship blooms.
As always free refreshments served: Grilled hotdogs, sides, desserts, and beverages.
Note New Start Time: 7:00 PM

Newspaper Coverage And ‘LTE’s’ Bring Strong Calls For Government Reform

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While local television stations bandied ongoing amphitheater concerns and new signs (more on those at a later time), Richmond Times Dispatch reporter Samuel Parker examined the details in regard to another City Hall threat against the neighborhood- rezoning.

Oregon Hill residents have been contemplating on this matter from the beginning- going back to the original ‘Richmond 300’ meetings on land use and calling foul on the narratives that came forth from them. City Hall brushed off the heartfelt complaints by neighbors and in what has become a horrible pattern, self-congratulated itself and celebrated dubious awards. The City government did the same thing with its water utility even as the water plant failed, something that surprised even longtime critics, exposing the real rot underneath.

Thankfully, in the last week or so, Mr. Parker, in a few in-depth newspaper articles, focused on who City’s Planning Department officials really are and brought significant light to conflicts of interest and tenures that should have ended decades ago.

Laurel Street neighbor Charles Pool wrote a well-written and complimentary Letter To The Editor (LTE) in gratitude for Parker’s work and the Times Dispatch newspaper published it this past Saturday morning. Pool’s correspondence also served to underscore the result of Planning Department problems- “an illegitimate process with a bonanza of new zoning proposals by developers, for developers”, that have more to do with profiteering than City’s well-being or affordable housing. Pool also described some of the disastrous impacts of these current proposals on this historic neighborhood and strongly called for immediate reform.

(By the way, also see the poignant LTE (“Correspondent Of The Day”) from the president of Chesterfield’s NAACP, Nicole Thompson-Martin, on Dominion’s dirty fossil fuel ambitions – “Letter: Clean energy isn’t just cheaper, it’s more equitable”)

Cherry Street neighbor and former president of the neighborhood association Todd Woodson re-posted Pool’s letter on social media and further challenged the City government.

I’ve been civically active in Richmond, Virginia for 25 years because I love our historic City and recognize the amazing progress we can and must make to ensure equity and prosperity in all corners. That said, I have seen it so damn corrupt here in the past that the FBI has had to intervene, sending lawless developers and City Councilors to jail.
If you care about our community, please read this LTE in today’s Times Dispatch. We are on a precipice of destroying much of what’s good and beautiful in Richmond because the developer “foxes are in the henhouse”. Our Department of Planning and Review has acknowledged paying for and using compromised data to implement terrible zoning changes in our historic neighborhood. Oregon Hill was appropriately rezoned to R7 in 2002. R7 maintains the character of this family oriented enclave (which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places) while at the same time promoting a dense fabric of reasonably affordable housing.
I call on Mayor Avula and City Council to DO THE RIGHT THING! Remove the bad leadership from our Planning Commission and Department , scrap the current Code Refresh abomination and start from scratch with the added voices of environmentalists , social activists, historians and other grassroots community members. If it aint broke dont fix it. The current Code Refresh is simply Urban Renewal 2.0 and only benefits the greedy that are currently wielding power.

Mr. Parker does deserve gratitude and laurels for bringing more attention to longstanding problems with Richmond’s Planning Department, and citizens and residents are both cheering and adamant. Will Mayor Avula and City Council represent the citizens and residents of this city, or will they continue to cowardly adhere to developer money? (And yes, this does include issues with the new corporate amphitheater as well as debate over the future of public housing).

Open High Students Demonstrate For Gun Control

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Earlier today at noon, Open High School students walked out in protest of gun violence and advocated for gun control.

NBC Channel 12 covered the protest. From their report:

This was part of a nationwide movement organized by Students Demand Action. Three 11th graders: Lucy James Howlett, Kai James and Rose Woodward organized the 30-minute protest at the school.

They said while district has taken steps to make campus safer, like metal detectors and clear backpacks, it’s those very measures that remind students just how unsafe the world can be.
…
There have been 44 school shootings so far this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive, Education Week and Everytown for Gun Safety. A recent report from the CDC shows that firearms were the leading cause of death for children and teens in 2020 and 2021.

“The student body is very aware of the nation’s issues, political issues,” James said.

Recycling Pickup On Thursday

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This Wednesday is a “Red Wednesday”, which usually means trash and recycling pickup, but because of the recent Labor Day holiday, pickups will hopefully move to Thursday.
Please go over what can be recycled.

NOTE: CVWMA (Central Virginia Waste Management Authority) has announced that all curbside recycling must now be INSIDE the CVWMA containers with lid closed. Items beside the container or on top of it will not be collected. In fact, incorrect setouts may not be collected at all. This is new as of July 1 for all our curbside recyclers, with the exception of townhomes/condos still using small bins. (And yes, this also applies to flattened cardboard boxes.)

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. More CVWMA information can be found at this link:
https://cvwma.com/cvwma-locations/richmond/

In order to take your recycling to the next level, read this: 10 ways to improve your recycling.

In recycling news, communities worldwide are promoting environmental sustainability with the recognition of Zero Waste Awareness Week during the first full week of September. The initiative, which began in the United Kingdom in 2008, encourages reducing, reusing, and recycling to minimize waste.

Everyone is encouraged to:
Refuse products that create excessive or non-recyclable waste.
Reduce dependence on single-use items.
Reuse, recycle, or repurpose materials whenever possible.

No. 62

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Richmond’s Open High School just ranked 62 in a report of the nation’s best high schools.

The U.S. News Best High Schools rankings include data on more than 24,000 public high schools in 50 states and the District of Columbia. Nearly 18,000 schools were ranked on six factors based on their performance on state assessments and how well they prepare students for college.
Click here for the article.

Trash/Recycling Pickup Tomorrow Morning

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Tomorrow is a “Red Wednesday”, which means trash and recycling pickup.
Please go over what can be recycled.

NOTE: CVWMA (Central Virginia Waste Management Authority) has announced that all curbside recycling must now be INSIDE the CVWMA containers with lid closed. Items beside the container or on top of it will not be collected. In fact, incorrect setouts may not be collected at all. This is new as of July 1 for all our curbside recyclers, with the exception of townhomes/condos still using small bins. (And yes, this also applies to flattened cardboard boxes.)

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. More CVWMA information can be found at this link:
https://cvwma.com/cvwma-locations/richmond/

In order to take your recycling to the next level, read this: 10 ways to improve your recycling.

In other news…
Save the date for the City of Richmond’s E-Cycle Day!

WHO: The Department of Public Works, The Clean City Commission, and The Department of Public Utilities

WHAT: Richmond E-Cycle Day – More than Electronics!
For Richmond Residents, no business or commercial items accepted

WHEN: Saturday, September 13 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

WHERE: 1710 Robin Hood Road (23220) northeast corner of Robin Hood Road and Arthur Ashe Boulevard

BACKGROUND: The City of Richmond’s E-Cycle Day event offers City residents an efficient option to recycle paper, household hazardous waste items and electronics to help keep hazardous waste materials out of city waterways, streams and rivers.

This event is available to city residents – proof of residency is required.

Please note, this is a drive-thru event. Volunteers will remove items from the cars.

Paper Document Shredding

Up to five (5) boxes of documents
Be sure to remove all binders, staples, and clips

Electronics (various fees apply)

Computer systems (hard drive or CPU) and accessories (cables, wires, keyboards, mice, speakers, etc.) VCRs, camcorders, stereos, and all phones
Televisions, computer monitors and printers
Other used electronic equipment (almost anything with a plug – see the online list for clarification, use the link below)
Get the list of fees and the full list of electronics to recycle
Go to www.rva.gov/public-works/clean-city-commission

Household Hazardous Waste Items (HHW)

Oil-based Paint
Bug spray, pesticides, rodent poison, and herbicides (Roundup, Weed B Gon etc.)
Latex and water-based paints will not be collected. These items can be left in open paint cans until they have dried out and then put in with regular curbside trash pick-up.

For more information on recycling or the event, please visit www.rva.gov/public-works/clean-city-commission or email AskPublicWorks@rva.gov

RCV Prize for a Richmond University SGA Increases

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With students coming back to Richmond universities, and with student government associations meeting again, it is worth noting that no Richmond university student government association (SGA) has claimed the previously announced $1,000 prize.

Just to refresh memories, in 2022, I, Scott Burger, pledged to reward whichever Richmond university student government is the first among Richmond university student governments to conduct a campus wide election of student government officers using ranked choice voting and incorporate ranked choice voting into its constitution/bylaws with a $1,000 prize.
(Please refer to the notes on the original post-
https://www.oregonhill.net/2022/11/16/1000-rcv-prize-for-a-richmond-university/)

In the last three years, this city, state, and country has seen some remarkably close elections, a few vote recounts, and much concern about voting and elections in general. Sadly, despite RCV progress elsewhere, and so much overall local change in general, Richmond politics is still languishing on its hotbed of apathy. It does not help that local media, including the college newspapers and media, have ignored this contest altogether, refusing to even mention it.

Some have suggested that I should just endow money directly to a university administration or department (as if I trust them to spend the money well!) or, completely ignoring the simple, grassroots approach to this promotion of RCV, should use the money instead to fund research or ‘a study’. As if there has not already been enough studies! Over 100 colleges and universities in the United States use ranked-choice voting (RCV) for student government elections. RCV is used at George Mason University, James Madison University, University of Virginia, and Washington and Lee.

I will state again that while I don’t think money should equal speech (I support www.MoveToAmend.org), for this contest, I am willing to make an exception.

I thought about doubling the prize amount, but between Trump’s tariffs and job threats from AI threatening the economy, I am not going to do that. I have decided to split the difference. I will increase my prize pool by $500. So, among the eligible Richmond university student governments, University of Richmond SGA, Virginia Commonwealth University SGA, or Virginia Union University SGA, the first SGA who satisfies the contest to my satisfaction will get $1,000. And now, the second one to do so will get $500. If there is not a second one within a year, the first winner will be rewarded the $500 in addition to the $1,000. Again, pay attention to the original caveats.

Remember, this city, state, and country need young people to lead. With emboldened fascism growing, we need to keep pushing for true democratic reforms that empower voters.

Rise and Click!

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Bill Draper is having fun sharing his hobby and helping Hollywood Cemetery at the same time!

From post:

Rise and Click! Join our upcoming photography workshops and discover the magic behind your favorite Hollywood Cemetery photos!

Follow along with Richmond’s celebrated photographer, Bill Draper Photography, and see what goes into capturing excellent outdoor photography. Enjoy the sunrise, discover wildlife, and capture the best landscapes from around the grounds, while learning from one of the best.

Sunday, August 24 @ 6:00 AM
Sunday, September 28 @ 6:30 AM
Sunday, October 19 @ 6:45 AM

Learn more and RSVP at www.hollywoodcemetery.org/visit/events