Support WRIR

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From email message:

Hi Oregon Hillians!

Many of you know that former Oregon Hill Resident Christopher Maxwell founded WRIR 97.3 and helped build the station while living on the Hill.

We at WRIR are in the midst of our fund drive- and sadly we have had to extend it for the first time ever because we haven’t met our goal.

Please consider donating to this public low power community radio station where many of our neighbors have volunteered their time and money.

If you haven’t heard our broadcasts, you’ve missed local news and public affairs programs like my husband John Richmond’s Richmond Education Today. Recently our neighbor Charles Pool discussed water rates during Open Source, another local news program.

Oregon Hill also is represented by multiple DJs airing music you seldom hear elsewhere on the airwaves- from our neighbor Derek Sunshine’s New Music Saloon and Greta B on River City Limits which plays music from Richmond Bands.

While our Oregon Hill neighbors volunteer their time, one of WRIR’s major expenses is paying for national programs like Living on Earth and Talk of the Nation. It was shows like these that other public radio stations weren’t airing that inspired Chris Maxwell to start work on WRIR with neighbors like Scott Burger and Tommy Birchett as well as former Oregon Hillians like Dustin Richardson.

Please support your neighbors and our community radio station. Anything helps- and we could always use more volunteers if you’re low on money.

Here’s our website
http://wrir.org/index.php?/ or just google WRIR Richmond Independent Radio.

You can donate on line, come into the station at 1621 West Broad St or call the office 622-9747 or the studio at 649-9737.

Yours,

Caroline Cox

Engaging Nature with St. Andrew’s Church

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From email announcement:

St. Andrew’s Church is hosting a series of gatherings engaging nature and creation as a way to connect more deeply to God, ourselves and others. Track a fox to its den. Discover God’s ancient wisdom. Create fire from friction. Contemplate scripture. Sense the approach of a hawk. Feel compassion, connect deeply. Learn more about this new offering over appetizers on Wednesday, September 26 at St. Andrew’s House (236 S. Laurel Street), 6:30 pm to 7:30 pm. Please RSVP to me at abailey at standrewsoregonhill.org or 648-7980.

OHNA Meeting Tonight

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From email:

Hello everyone

Just a reminder that we have an OHNA meeting tonight, Tuesday, September 25th at 7 PM at WBCH.

Susan Hill, from Richmond Region Energy Alliance (RREA), will be giving a presentation on energy efficiency issues for homeowners. She will also be offering $200 coupons for energy assessments.

http://www.rrea-va.org/

I talked to Marty Jewell at the Woodland Heights sponsored Candidate Forum. I invited him to attend an OHNA meeting. He said he would. I plan on reminding him today.

Thanks
Jennifer
Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association

This Week At Byrd House Market

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From the email announcement:

this week…
Beautiful beautiful fall, autumn by the James, our fare’s days… vendor details and more at ByrdHouseMarket.blogspot.com

4 Oct: 2012 Hans S. Falck Lecture
Eradication of Poverty: Utopia or Reality? The Intersection between Housing, Livelihood and Transportation with opening remarks by L. Robert Bolling, WBCH Executive Director. Panelists: John Moeser (Policy), Youngmi Kim (Social Work), Garet Prior (Urban Planning), Michael Paul Williams (Journalism). Moderator: Ana Edwards, William Byrd Community House. Thursday, Oct. 4, 2012, 7-9 pm, St. Andrew’s School Auditorium, Idlewood Ave. and S. Cherry St. 23220. More information and details at byrdhousemarket.blogspot.com

6 Oct: Renovation Station!
Richmond Women in Design and The Storefront for Community Design host “Renovation Station” of FREE Design Consultation – an open house design day at WBCH – flier and easy application attached.

24 Oct: National Food Day at the Market
SAVE THE DATE and join us with VCU Wellness Department and the return of the After Market Film Night with Shalom Farms and Origins Farm: Ingredients film and discussion. Panelists to be announced.

A Month of Library Project Days
2 – 5 pm Thursdays Oct. 18 & 25 and 9:30 – 12:30 pm Fridays Nov. 9 & 16
The Grace Arents Library is undergoing a gradual and steady organizational and beautification overhaul. And its library manager would love to have the helping hands of those who love books, and quiet, thoughtful tasks. Our capacity is 5-10 volunteers for 3 hours on each day. And there is ongoing need for those who’d like to spend 1-2 hours per week. Great for service learning and community service! If you are interested please send a note to Ana at byrdhousemarket at gmail.com. Thanks!

Position Open – Finance Manager
William Byrd Community House is currently seeking a part time Finance Manager.
More at WBCH.org

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_____________________

Ana Edwards, Manager
Byrd House Market & Library Programs
Grace Arents Library & Education Center
William Byrd Community House
www.wbch.org / 804.643.2717 ext.306

Virginia War Memorial’s U.S. Flag Stolen Last Night

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WTVR is reporting that the U.S. flag was stolen from the Virginia War Memorial

Excerpt:

The memorial, located at 621 S. Belvidere Street, is guarded by private overnight security, in addition to the State Capital Police who patrol the area.
Yet thieves managed to cut the rope system holding the flag and make off with it, around 3:30 in the morning.
The pole is pretty high, and it would likely take more than one person to steal the flag, Jeb Hockman, Director of Marketing of the Virginia War Memorial, said.
“I’m not sure why they would take an American flag, but I will say this, it’s kinda sad that they would take an American flag from here,” Hockman said.
“The Va. War Memorial, is the monument, the place where people honor those service men and women who have given the ultimate sacrifice in defense of our flag.”
There is no previous history of these flags being stolen, said Hockman.

Fundraising in 5th District City Council Race

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The Times Dispatch has an illuminating article this morning on the big fundraising going on in this year’s City Council election contests.

In regard to the 5th district race, the article says the following:

The biggest gain was reported in the three-way 5th District race between freelance museum consultant Parker C. Agelasto, incumbent E. Martin Jewell and Woodland Heights civic leader S. Lee Shewmake, who were scheduled to face off in a candidate forum at Woodland Heights Baptist Church on Thursday night.

Agelasto raised $15,004 in July and August, the most of any City Council candidate during that period, according to the latest campaign finance reports compiled by the Virginia Public Access Project. Jewell reported just $200 in fundraising during that period while Shewmake raised $2,700. Agelasto also finished the period with the most cash on hand as of Sept. 1. He had $7,333, compared with Jewell’s $5,261 and Shewmake’s $685.

Tomorrow is PARK(ing) Day in RVA

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…On which a bunch of planners, landscape architects, engineers, and other creatives descend upon Monroe Park and hopefully good DIY planning for Richmond takes place. Click for link here.

From the main Park(ing) Day website:

ABOUT PARK(ING) DAY
Providing temporary public open space . . . one parking spot at at time.

PARK(ing) Day is a annual open-source global event where citizens, artists and activists collaborate to temporarily transform metered parking spaces into “PARK(ing)” spaces: temporary public places. The project began in 2005 when Rebar, a San Francisco art and design studio, converted a single metered parking space into a temporary public park in downtown San Francisco. Since 2005, PARK(ing) Day has evolved into a global movement, with organizations and individuals (operating independently of Rebar but following an established set of guidelines) creating new forms of temporary public space in urban contexts around the world.

The mission of PARK(ing) Day is to call attention to the need for more urban open space, to generate critical debate around how public space is created and allocated, and to improve the quality of urban human habitat … at least until the meter runs out!

Richmond Water Rates Protest On Monday

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There is a water rate protest planned for this coming Monday outside City Hall before the formal City Council meeting. The All the Saints Theater troop, the same group that organizes the Halloween Parade in Oregon Hill, is planning to attend with puppets and posters.

From the Facebook Event page:

This is an important demonstration to be held at Richmond City Hall at 5:00 p.m on Monday Sept. 24th to protest the city of Richmond’s outrageous minimum water/sewer service charge of $49.40, which is the highest in the nation. This is a real burden for every social security grandma and other low income residents to have to pay $592 annually just to be connected to the water supply. The city utility raises over $30 million annually from this residential water/sewer service charge, and almost half of this, $12 million is, paid directly into the city’s general fund. This is the most regressive means possible to raise general funds for the city– putting an outrageous service charge on the most basic necessity — water. Furthermore, Richmond’s water rate does not promote conservation because the city utility gets more than half of its revenue from the minimum service charge instead of the volume charge.

This protest is part of campaign that has seen over 1300 people sign an online petition that demands the City adopt the rate schedule used by Henrico County, which buys water from Richmond’s water utility.

From the petition:

Henrico’s water/sewer rates are equitable and promote conservation. Henrico’s minimum monthly water/sewer service charge is about a third of Richmond’s. To encourage conservation, Henrico offers a volume use discount for customers who use 6 ccf or less of water, while customers using over 6 ccf pay a premium water/sewer volume rate. Richmond can receive the same total revenue from its water works by slashing the minimum monthly service charge, eliminating the high volume discount, and charging a premium for customers using over 6 ccf of water/sewer.

The City of Richmond has a long-term financial incentive to adopt Henrico’s rate schedule. By giving customers genuine incentives to conserve water, Richmond will reduce the need for future treatment facilities and reduce pollutants downstream.

Neighbor Charles Pool is scheduled to speak on the water rate issue during the Citizen Comment period at the City Council meeting. The campaign to reform the CIty’s water rates goes back at least five years.