James River Film Festival at Main Library on Friday

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From announcement:

Join us at the Main Library on Friday, April 13 from Noon to 3, for the 19th James River Film Festival
Free and open to the public!

Futuropolis (Phil Trumbo and Steve Segal, 1984, 40 min.) with star Tom (Cosmo) Campagnoli! This is the granddaddy of Richmond independent film, the third time we’ve screened Futuroplis since the festival began in 1994. Shot over nine years on sets constructed in the basement of the Broad Street Station (now the Science Museum of Virginia), using an animation process known as pixilation, Futuropolis has the feel of a 1930’s comic strip and the warm synthesis of atomic age nostalgia. With Futuroplis actor Tom (Cosmo) Campagnoli on hand for a Q&A

19th JRFF: Mark of the Damned
Mark of the Damned (Eric Miller, 2007, 90 min.) with director Eric Miller! Made by Richmonders over an 8-year span at a cost of $10,000, Mark of the Damned is a sci-fi/horror hybrid, full of ambience and shot in the stark chiaroscuro of the silent cinema years. A self-proclaimed “journey beyond truth into an amplified world,” Mark of the Damned’s cursed legacy includes a screening in Sicily where the power in the theatre inexplicably failed. Director Eric Miller will be on hand for a Q&A after the screening.

VCU SDS: “Defend Your Right to Peaceful Assembly and Protest”

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From a statement for the VCU Students for a Democratic Society:

VCU recently proposed amendments to its student code of conduct. The proposed rules prohibit demonstrations that disrupt the normal functions of the university, but the language is so vague that, if interpreted by a trigger-happy administrator, you could be punished for non-disruptively, peacefully, and legally exercising your First Amendment right to peaceable assembly and protest.

“Demonstrations/riot – Participating in an on-campus or off-campus demonstration, riot or activity that disrupts the normal operations of the University and/or infringes on the rights of others; leading or inciting others to disrupt scheduled and/or normal activities within any campus building or area.”

VCU is not alone in this crackdown on active citizens; measures are being taken to criminalize free speech throughout the city and country.

On the 3rd of March, 30 peaceful protesters were arrested by Virginia State Police in riot gear for sitting on the steps of the Virginia Capitol building. They were demonstrating for an end to anti-choice reproductive legislation. In a further attempt to scare citizens away from expressing their First Amendment right to peaceful assembly, the female arrestees were held for nearly nine hours in a paddy wagon and prevented access to restrooms and drinking water.

In Georgia, members of the state legislature unsuccessfully attempted to restrict the right of protesters and union members with SB 469. The bill would have made it a felony to protest near a private business. Imagine being charged with a felony for simply holding a sign!

VCU’s Monroe Park is also significant. Last Spring, several activists were arrested for camping out on the corner of Main and Laurel in protest of City Council’s attempt to gentrify the park and criminalize homelessness. Later in 2011, members of Occupy Richmond were brutalized by Richmond police and denied access to Monroe Park after being forcefully removed from Kanawha Plaza, a camp that passed the City’s sanitation standards.

And so, we, the VCU chapter of Students for a Democratic Society are protesting today to publicly exercise and protect our freedom to peacefully assemble, to stand against the unjust and unprovoked attacks on civil disobedience, and to demand transparency in American society.

**This is an orderly, peaceful demonstration. We are practicing what we are trying to defend. Behavior that is harmful or disruptive to our fellow students or homeless won’t be tolerated.**

There is a Facebook page for a protest this Friday in Monroe Park at 1 pm:

https://www.facebook.com/events/429199907105958/

Paint the Town Green to beautify neighborhoods around VCU

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From Fan of the Fan’s post:

VCU students and neighbors will work together to beautify the neighborhoods around the college during Paint the Town Green this Saturday, April 14. Meet at in Monroe Park at 8:30AM for breakfast, community service projects begin at 9AM. Participating neighborhoods include Jackson Ward, The Fan, Oregon Hill, Randolph, and Carver.

All of the volunteers assembled at Monroe Park before breaking up into teams to work in neighborhoods surrounding campus. Photo by John Venuti. (Paint the Town Green 2011)

“We hope to have close to 500 volunteers this time,” said program director and Community Coordinator, Ron Brown. “This year we have partnered with more neighborhoods [including Jackson Ward] and the City of Richmond’s Love My Block initiative,” said Brown. This year’s Paint the Town Green Event will include both the Monroe Park and Medical campus. To register for the event or for more information, email neighbors@vcu.edu.

Paint the Town Green, a community service and partnership initiative, is held tentatively on the second Saturday of every April and October. Paint the Town Green is sponsored by the VCU Council for Community Engagement, the neighboring VCU communities, the Monroe Park and MCV Student Government Associations and The Alumni Association.

Submitted by Jose Menjivar

Times Dispatch Story on Carter’s Dry Goods

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It’s been weeks since the fire, and the Times Dispatch’s Bill Lohmann has a good report on the aftermath:

An excerpt:

“A lot of happy days in this store,” said Jean Carter, as we stepped around piles of charred debris with the help of a portable lamp.

Carter’s family owned and operated the small store on Idlewood Avenue in Oregon Hill for almost 70 years until they closed it in 1993, advancing age and a drop-off in business leaving them little choice. Since then, the family has used the building for storage.

On the night of March 6, Carter, who lives in the house, as she always has, at the other end of the backyard from the store, heard sirens that sounded ominously close. She raised the shade on her kitchen window and saw flames shooting from the back of the store and into the top of a nearby tree.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but it apparently started in a shed in the next yard and spread to the store. The fire became so hot it melted the siding on a house across the alley. No one was injured, but the store was damaged beyond repair, so it will have to come down, said Carter and Jim Poe, a longtime family friend and contractor who will oversee the demolition.

“It was like home,” said Carter, who was a baby when her parents opened the store in 1926 and who worked there as a child and off and on through the years. “People in the neighborhood would come in and buy … and sit and talk. It was just a friendly place.

“I’ve tried to keep going,” she said, her voice breaking, “but it’s my life.”

Though the store hasn’t been open for almost 20 years, those of a certain age in Oregon Hill remember it fondly and can scarcely imagine the corrugated metal building gone from Idlewood.

Citizen Watch Dog Takes On The City’s Special Use Permit (SUP) Process

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C. Wayne Taylor, who has been doing a lot of digging’ on behalf of the neighborhood, recently sent this missive:

PLANNING COMMISSION

To the Honorable Council of the City of Richmond, Virginia
April 3, 2012

At its meeting of April 2, 2012, the Planning Commission voted (7-0) to APPROVE of:

Resolution of Intent:

To Amend the Zoning Ordinance Special Exception Provisions for the Purpose of
Reducing Reliance on the Special Use Process. All Council Districts

Summary dates:
Proposed Council paper introduction: April 23, 2012
Proposed Planning Commission public hearing: May 21,2012
Proposed City Council public hearing: May 29,2012

I recommend that all of you who are interested in sound land use policies for the city make sure you understand this proposal. While the title of the resolution sounds as if the proposal would move the city toward a more rules-based system, it would actual give the Board of Zoning Appeals broader authority to waive existing zoning and subdivision rules.

You should note that the BZA members are appoint the circuit court and can only be removed by the circuit court. Decisions of the BZA are not reviewable by City Council. The only course of action to challenge a BZA waiver would be a circuit court suit.

In my view, this is a very bad proposal. Richmond City Council is the only municipality in the Commonwealth of Virginia that has been given the authority to grant a special use permit that waives zoning and subdivision rules for a property owner. Over the years, City Council has granted thousands of waivers. As a result, the city has thousands of sets of rules for properties in the city and has failed to follow sound land use planning practices. The proposed ordinance perpetuates this situation and moves the process further from the citizens.

I submit that the fair and wise course of action is to have a set of rules that apply to everyone the way it is in all other municipalities. The city should stop granting special use permits. Unfortunately, this would require a charter amendment by the General Assembly. In the meantime, we appear poised to move further away from a rule-based system.

Please make sure you understand the immediate and long-term repercussions of this proposed ordinance. If you are concerned, please forward this information to your friends.

C. Wayne Taylor

1. Planning Commission “Letters” with notice of adopted resolution.
2. Planning Commission Agenda with full text of draft ordinance.
3. Code of Virginia § 15.2-2309. Powers and duties of boards of zoning appeals.

Read more on his blog at CityHallReview.com

Lee Bridge Death Investigation

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Announcement From the Richmond Police Department:

Richmond Police Department
E-mail Advisory 04/05/12
Lee Bridge Death Investigation

At approximately 12:39 p.m., the Richmond Police Department was called to the Lee Bridge for a report of a male jumping from the span.

Officers arrived and found a male below the bridge on Belle Isle who was suffering from injuries from the apparent fall.

The victim, a white male in his early 20’s, was taken to VCU Medical Center where he succumbed to his injuries. The Medical Examiner will determine cause of death.

The victim’s identity has not yet been released by detectives.

Officers that responded to the scene conducted interviews with witnesses and have classified this death investigation as a suicide, but the investigation remains open.

Robbins At Main Library For First Friday

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From Richmond Public Library:

Best-selling author David L. Robbins has adapted his suspense-filled, compassionate thriller, Scorched Earth, for the stage. A rural Virginia community is torn apart when the tiny body of a stillborn, mixed-race baby is exhumed from the graveyard, and the neighboring church is burned to the ground. Join us as Robbins discusses his creative process and the upcoming world premiere on April 13 at the Barksdale Theatre.

Robbins began writing fiction in 1997 and has since published nine novels, and the stage play Scorched Earth. He is the founder of the James River Writers, co-founder of the non-profit Podium Foundation and currently teaches advanced creative writing at VCU.

The program is free and the public is invited.

Friday, April 6 at 7:00 p.m.
Main Library
Davenport Special Collections Room

Also, please note:

All libraries will be closed Friday, April 6. The Main Library will be open from 6:30-9 p.m. for the First Friday Art Walk.

Holy Week Services

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Courtesy of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church:

April 5 – Maundy Thursday: 10:00 am joint service at Pine Street Baptist (special service for those who are homeless); 7:00pm, church.

April 6 – Good Friday Liturgy: 12:00 noon, church; and 7:00pm, church.

April 7 – The Great Vigil of Easter – Annual Episcopal Visit from Bishop Shannon Johnston, 7:00pm, church.

April 8 – Easter Sunday: Joint service at Pine Street Baptist, 8:30am; parish breakfast and egg hunt, 9:30am, St. Andrew’s House (in Baldwin Hall if it rains); Feast of the Resurrection, 11:00am, church.

(Childcare provided for all evening services and Sunday morning.)

Allan Holderness Davis, R.I.P.

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Allan Davis of the 400 block of S. Laurel died last week. A graveside service was planned for today (Thursday) at Hollywood Cemetery at 11:00 am.

DAVIS, Allan Holderness, 68, of Richmond, died on Friday, March 30, 2012. Allan was graduated from St. Christopher’s School in 1962 and Duke University in 1966. He lived in the San Francisco area much of his life, returning to Richmond about six years ago. While in California, he owned and managed The Book and Bean, one of the country’s first bookstore cafes. He also was the proprietor of Yard Art, a nationally known store specializing in antiques for the garden. He is survived by his sister, Patsy Davis, of Washington D.C.; three nieces, Lloyd Spruill of Richmond, Harriet Kendall of Charleston, S.C. and Julia Klein of Sandpoint, Idaho; two nephews, Evan Davis of Richmond and Keith Davis of Charlottesville; and seven great-nephews and nieces. A graveside service will be held at Hollywood Cemetery on Wednesday, April 4, at 11 a.m. In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to St. Christopher’s School or the Virginia Historical Society.

Oregon Hill Parkway Closed Tomorrow

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From the City press release:

Street Closure – Oregon Hill Parkway
Traffic Advisory
Richmond, Virginia
Mayor Dwight C. Jones
For Immediate Release
March 30, 2012
For more information, contact:
Sharon North – (804) 646-5607

Street Closure – Oregon Hill Parkway

WHO: City of Richmond Department of Public Works

WHAT: Street Closure

WHEN: Wednesday, April 4, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

WHERE: Oregon Hill Parkway between Pine Street and Laurel Street.

BACKGROUND: Oregon Hill Parkway between Pine Street and Laurel Street will be closed during structural rehabilitation to the pedestrian bridge.
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Personally, I am very excited to see things happen with the new pedestrian bridge.