From City’s Current Traffic Information site:
S 5TH ST/TREDEGAR ST FIRE, GAS LEAK (OUTSIDE) (Single Company) On Scene 7:47 AM CONSTRUCTION COMPANY ADVISED THEY WERE DRILLING AND STRUCK A GAS LINE …….E6 O/S… STRONG SMELL OF GAS IN THE AREA
E BYRD ST/S 5TH ST ASSIST FIRE DEPARTMENT, TRAFFIC AND/OR CROWD CONTROL On Scene 8:01 AM ASSIST FIRE DEPT WITH OUTSIDE GAS LEAK…REQUESTING NO INCOMING TRAFFIC…NEED TO BLOCK ALL TRAFFIC ONTO 5TH ST
From Richmond police:
Richmond Police want to advise drivers to the closure of the Lee Bridge on Sunday night to accommodate the RVA Fireworks.
The Lee Bridge will be closed from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Sunday, July 3.
From the south – access to the bridge will be closed at Semmes and Cowardin avenues.
From the north – access to the bridge will be closed at East Byrd and Belvidere streets.
Also, while I am seeing stories about the 76 ramp, I am not seeing details on roadwork regarding the 195 ramp coming from Cumberland. I thought I heard something about it being closed for adding a new lane to the toll plaza. Anyone have the skinny?
Announcement:
Hello everyone
Just a reminder that OHNA will be holding its monthly meeting tonight, Tuesday, June 28th, at 7 PM at WBCH.
Hope to see everyone there
Jennifer
Reminder: Tomorrow morning is the scheduled date for the City’s trash and recycling pickup.
In regard to Issue #1, at a meeting last week between the Virginia Commonwealth University administration and Monroe Park campus community and neighborhood leaders, VCU President Michael Rao dismissed calls for lasting compacts for the university’s physical expansion and instead suggested that input be given in the next VCU Master Plan process.
The problems with that are numerous:
Oregon Hill residents in particular have no reason to trust VCU’s Master Plan process, simply because VCU now has a history of abruptly changing it’s Master Plan at any point to serve its own purposes. Add VCU’s assumed powers and history of encroachment on top of that, and there is even more reason for nearby neighborhoods to feel threatened. There’s no “community partnership” in that!
Another reason to look askance at the VCU Master Plan process is that Richmond in general has always discounted any citizen input into planning, including it’s own Downtown Master Plan. This city has a bad history of patrician rule that is not above playing racial politics with whole neighborhoods. It’s again worth noting that the initial draft of the City’s Downtown Master Plan asks for more protection of Richmond’s historic neighborhoods.
One thing that I conveyed to President Rao was how the administration’s willingness to disregard community concerns about VCU encroachment in turn fosters a disrespectful attitude from some VCU students and boosters. And it’s not just Oregon Hill that bears the brunt of this arrogance, especially in discussions over possible football stadium locations.
In the end, the VCU Public Relations Department can keep acquiring awards, but until the VCU administration takes the positive step of making a lasting, reliable border agreement with its neighbors who have been asking for one for years, then there can be no true “community partnership”. The thirty+ year siege of Oregon Hill continues.
From announcement:
June 28 will be the 3rd Byrd House Market day that EBT purchases are possible for our shoppers received SNAP benefits – thanks to a Federal grant through Va Dept Social Services. The first day, $4 in EBT sales were made and last week $47! An exponential increase! We knew this was a good idea. So spread the word. Better food for all, Better business for our food producers. Win. WinWin.
Our featured vendors this week? ALL of them! and Bill & Joyce Heath (in photo there)
Appearing in this week’s rotation: You! and the Richmond Public Library and Triple Stamp Press
Bernie’s Baked Goods returns for the summer.
Storyteller: Richmond Public Library brings books! (and voice)
Frank deAlto plays and sings under the Mulberry Tree, sharing the shady venue with Thea and/or Nadine on violin
Visitors: You! and Project Burning Bush Summer Institute
Coming soon:
July 5: First Tuesday Wine Down with Byrd Cellars
July 12: St. Andrew’s Church returns with their special canned yummies…
July 16: Cooking as a 2nd Language: Holiday Jewish Cuisine – What’s it All Mean? (and how to make it!) with Rabbi Andrew GoodmanKeep up with the good stuff!
ByrdHouseMarket.blogspot.com
and
EatGoodGrowGreat.blogspot.com
From announcement:
There will be a celebration today for Reverend Philip Turner’s 20th. anniversary at Pine St. Baptist Church. There will be a program and reception to follow at 4pm at 400 Pine St. at the church. All are invited and child care is available.
(Ed.’s note- I apologize for the late post, though I did forward to the neighborhood Yahoo email list as soon as I received notice. Rev. Turner deserves much thanks for everything he does for the community.)
I did not discover the local band Flat Stanley until after they had already broken up, but I did enjoy their recorded music. This video has some great film footage of Richmond, including VCU and Monroe Park.
I have posted Oregon Hill t-shirts before, but I thought I would bring some attention to more recent fashion forays-
I still have a Mamma Zu’s t-shirt, and now Pescados China Street is hosting a t-shirt design contest.
“pescados china street t shirt design contest” ~ we are having a t shirt design contest for our restaurant t shirt ~ seeking something cool, fresh, maybe caribbean inspired or fishy, but certainly unique. all things considered ~ if your design is the winner & used on our shirts, you score a $500 pescados china street gift card ~ winner must provide camera ready artwork ~ bob@pescadoschinstreet.com
I will also remind you that the Oregon Hill Zazzle online store features all types of apparel, and due to material cost increases, prices may go up this next week, so order now. Take advantage of their sale.
Announcement from Nancy Stutts of ConnectRichmond:
All –
I’d like to thank our board, Connect members, donors, colleagues and
community partners for supporting ConnectNetwork’s mission to build stronger
local communities over the past 10 years. Some of you were there when we met
in Ebenezer Baptist Church in 2000, when many nonprofits did not even have
email addresses, to invent what became known as ConnectRichmond and later,
ConnectRappahannock and ConnectSouthside. The Network will close its doors
at the end of June; however, the three local networks will continue to serve
their communities and are currently in the process of rebuilding their
technology platforms (see contacts below for questions).It’s been a privilege to work with you and the many volunteers, staff and
students who worked to build the first social network for good. I am
especially grateful to the donors who took a chance on me, my poster board
of circles that represented the Connect vision and what was then a pretty
radical idea for a Web-based community for information and knowledge to
promote civic action. I thank the Network communities who have driven our
work and the academic institutions that have housed and supported the vision
of a web-based portal: the University of Richmond (the original host) and,
for the last five years, Virginia Commonwealth University.Though we will no longer staff ConnectNetwork, Liana Kleeman and I will
continue to work in the community through the Wilder School at VCU. I will
serve as Interim Chair for the Master in Public Administration Program,
teach and continue research and Liana will continue our recent work
exploring the local digital divide and digital equity, an issue that emerged
as a key local concern in Richmond’s 2010 Community Summit and was recently
declared a human rights issue by the United Nations. In the last several
months, we have worked with VCU MPA students, a UR Business School class and
those of you in the trenches overcoming inadequate access to information and
knowledge for many in our community.We hope you will join us for a meeting in conjunction with this work on June
30, from 3:30-5:00 PM, at Richmond Public Library’s main branch to review
what we know about the digital divide in the Richmond region and learn from
those in attendance where the community might go from here. Thank you to the
many individuals who have taken surveys and attended meetings; per your
suggestions to map local assets, we have completed a preliminary map of
computer/Internet access centers in the Richmond region:
http://bit.ly/iD6kFZ If we are missing locations, please email us and we
will add your information.
From press release:
The Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts today announced the introduction this fall of VCUarts Cinematheque, a new series of 10 world and independent art films to be screened at the Grace Street Theater.
Feature films will be projected in 35mm with VCUarts’ brand-new, state-of-the-art projecting system. The system includes a new theatrical screen, Dolby Stereo Surround Audio System and a German Kinoton FP 30D projector. The Grace Street Theater, which is located at 934 W. Grace St., seats 250 people in a stadium-seating layout.
The inaugural Cinematheque season will hold Tuesday screenings that start promptly at 7 p.m. The screenings will be free and open to the public on a first-come basis.
“We are excited that there will be an alternative theatrical film venue in Richmond to present art and world cinema in 35mm in a state-of-the-art movie theater,” said Rob Tregenza, director and professor in the VCUarts Department of Cinema and the programmer for the Cinematheque. “This series will provide a new opportunity for the VCU and Richmond community to experience great films in a setting and format that honors the work.”
Tregenza selected and programmed feature films in the series from current theatrical art house releases, world cinema and classic art cinema with input from the School of the Arts, the School of World Studies and cinephiles from the community.
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