You are cordially invited to the Richmond Public School’s State of the Schools address this Saturday, March 8th at 11 a.m. at Thomas Jefferson High School (4100 West Grace Street). Call 780-7100 for more information.

Starting tomorrow, if you don’t put your trash can back where it belongs after trash day, you could be fined, if you live in the city. NBC12 Reports on the details:

In one Richmond neighborhood, trash pick up is today. Under the new city ordinance that means residents will have to have their bins removed and out of the way by Tuesday morning at 7 a.m.

…..Richmond Department of Public Works Marc LaFountain says, “You can take a trash or recycling receptacle and put it outside on public property as early as 4 p.m. the night before and leave it there as late as 7 a.m. the morning after.”

For those who don’t comply, DPW will be issuing bright yellow warning stickers from now through the end of April.

“I do think we’ll be giving out a lot of warnings to people who just don’t understand what is and what is not city property and don’t understand that a sidewalk and an alley is a public right of way not private property,” says LaFountain.

In hopes of educating residents before May 1st. That’s when residents will see a red violation sticker and a $50 a day fine tacked onto their utility bill.

Sometimes it takes a stranger to help us appreciate our beautiful city. Recently, a local children’s fantasy author came to Richmond to visit 4 elementary schools, including Mary Munford and Fox. James Dashner, is promoting his new book, The 13th Reality.
Here’s what he had to say:

I heap praise on the 4 awesome schools we visited, I want to make 2 observations about this area around Richmond, VA.

This place is unbelievably beautiful. I mean it. I seriously want to live here. Rolling hills, farms, wheatfields, tree-lined roads, awesome architecture everywhere. All somehow magically surrounding this pretty big city. In fact, it was kind of eerie. Angie and I really thought that somehow we went through a portal and entered another world (or yes, another Reality).

Honest to goodness, we were in downtown Richmond, skyscrapers everywhere, and then 2 minutes later we were in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by breathtaking scenery but not a single restaurant in sight. The Dashner Dude almost had to skip lunch and groan and whine incessantly during the last 2 presentations, but a gas station suddenly popped out of nowhere and had a deli inside. Our lives were saved at the last minute.

Based on the schools he visited and his description, I’d say he’s talking about the East End off of Route 5, an area slated to be developed into Tree Hill Farm. Tree Hill is certainly one of my favorite parts of Richmond, and I will be so sad to see it developed.
…

Next came Mary Munford Elementary. Another awesome assembly, more awesome kids. Thanks to the librarian, Elena Yamashev, who had such a cool accent I could’ve talked to her all day.

We received the following video the City of Richmond government regarding the new Supercan and recycling ordinance for Richmond residents.

According to an article in Style Weekly, this week, not only is Mary Munford Elementary the best place to skate in the city but also according to mayoral hopeful, Paul Goldman, a skate park in downtown could revive Richmond.

But the city has more catching up to do, Quillen says: “Every city on the East Coast, not even mentioning the West Coast where it all started, has a small, city-run skate park.”

“You want to attract younger professionals, you want to put out that hip vibe,” the elder Goldman says.

“But no skate park,” Quillen laments.

“Bee-bop boo boo,” Goldman’s son adds, mimicking the sound from the Donkey Kong video game when a player loses a level.

Some of the best city skating right now is at Mary Munford Elementary School, Goldman says. If he wins the mayoral election, he’d like Thomas to switch to a city school, like Munford, and out of the county school he attends. (Thomas’ mother lives in Henrico.)

But Mary Munford wasn’t built for skating. Skate parks feature concrete paving with bowls and ramps for skateboards to thrash around in.

As Goldman mulls over the idea, it gains symbolic weight. Approving a skate park — even if you’re more football- or basketball-oriented — he says, signifies a live-and-let-live philosophy important to a mayor or any leader, really.

The wheels seem to be turning: Without the Braves, Goldman posits, a park could be a new monument to regional cooperation where county and city skaters could glide side by side. The perfect complement to Richmond’s rich preservation tradition, it would demonstrate how cool the city is. In fact, Goldman reasons, if Richmond had only sculpted a downtown skate park before the dot-com bubble, the city wouldn’t have lost tens of thousands of jobs to places like Raleigh, N.C.

hmmm. Well I’m not skater, but my daughter goes to Mary Munford and I have to say, I’m not sure what makes Mary Munford good for skating. Yes, there is a blacktop, but that’s about it. And, I’ve never seen skate boarders there. Scooters, yes, skate boards, no.

Not that I think having a skate park in downtown Richmond is a bad idea — just not the stuff you run a mayoral candidacy around.

In its highest finish in 6 years, the University of Richmond Spiders basketball team is tied for third place in the Atlantic 10 Conference. The Spiders play Xavier on tomorrow at the Cintas Center.

The folks over at North Richmond News have reminded us that preschool registration is quickly approaching for next year. Make sure that you get your paperwork together now, so that registration is easy. Also, new this year, is in the Near West End, due to high demand an additional preschool classroom will be opened at Community High School at Libbie and Patterson.

Richmond Public Schools will hold citywide preschool registration beginning March 20 for its 2008-2009 preschool programs. Beginning March 20, preschool registration will be held every Thursday at all Richmond City elementary schools (except George Mason and Fairfield Court). Registration will continue at the schools until June 12.

Beginning April 1, preschool registration will be held every Tuesday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the following community locations:

East End District Initiative Building, 701 North 25th Street
Parent Resource Center, Richmond Technical Center, North Building, Rm. 205
Humphrey Calder Community Center, 414 North Thompson Street
Beginning April 2, preschool registration will be held every Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Southside Community Service Center, 4100 Hull Street.

Parents must bring proof of residency at the time of registration. Parents must also bring their children’s birth certificate, Social Security card, a physical exam completed within the last 12 months and an up-to-date immunization record.

Parents who want to register their children for Head Start must also bring proof of income, health insurance cards and a copy of their child’s dental exam.

Children must be four years old by Sept. 30 to attend Virginia Preschool Initiative classes. Head Start serves students who will be three or four years old by Sept. 30.

For more information, call 254-6181 (English) or 254-6180 (Spanish).

A few weeks ago we mentioned that Henrico County was looking at security upgrades for its schools. NBC12 reports that those upgrades have been approved in the new budget. A bonus: school teachers get a 4 percent raise.

Six new officers will be stationed at six different schools in the county. School board members say more security is needed to help deter crime.

Henrico, Tucker and Varina will have an additional armed school resource officer on campus next semester.

Brookland, Tuckahoe, and Fairfield Middle will each get unarmed security officers.

The School Board voted unanimously to approve a $508 million budget, which includes funding for the security upgrade. Also in the budget is money for 140 new positions — most are slotted for teaching and staff positions at Harvey Elementary which is still under construction. There’s another bonus in the budget — a 4 percent raise for teachers and nurses.

School Board member Lamont Bagby says overall, the budget reflects the board’s priority of educating and keeping students safe.