Deborah Jewell-Sherman, Richmond Public Schools Superintendent was just named the  Virginia Superintendent of the year.  And, if you blinked you might not have noticed the local coverage as  School Board Rep, Kim Bridges points out. 

Here is a message that she sent out to the Mary Munford community via the PTA e-newsletter:

*** Message from Kim Bridges, 1st District School Board Representative ***
Bridges For Schools Update - May 2008

It’s official:  Richmond has the best in Virginia
If you blinked (or didn’t read all the way past the obituaries) you might have missed it, but Dr. Jewell Sherman was named Virginia Superintendent of the Year on Tuesday evening.  
After being selected as one of eight regional finalists, she was chosen by a group representing superintendents, PTA, the state Department of Education, the Virginia School Boards Association, and the business community.  It’s quite an honor, and Richmond’s superintendent will now proceed to the national award level along with the best of the best across the nation.  She deserves our congratulations and thanks–and if you feel so inclined, you may reach her at djewell@richmond.k12.va.us.

A Tale of Two Systems?
The statewide recognition illustrates a point that has been vexing me for some time.  The current status of Richmond Public Schools could be, to borrow from Dickens, “A Tale of Two Systems.”  (Even the first line of A Tale of Two Cities rings true for RPS.  Extra credit to any fellow English major or avid reader who can prove your recall of the novel’s opening–no googling allowed!)  It’s not just me; others have noticed that the state and national perspective of RPS differs considerably from the local perspective.   I’ve been examining that disconnect and have asked Councilman Tyler if we could delve into it at the next 1st District Town Hall meeting on May 28.  Please join us at Mary Munford that evening at 7:00 p.m. for a dialogue on “Perception and our Public Schools.”  I’ll be inviting members of the media to attend as well, as a number of 1st District folks have approached me to ask, “What’s up with the coverage of RPS?”  I think it will be an interesting and productive discussion - please come.

More chances to talk
Speaking of dialogues and the attributes of a successful superintendent, the school board is hosting several public forums to hear from the community about what we want in our next superintendent. These four public forums will be a critical first step in beginning the superintendent search process.  The 1st District will host the forum at TJ on May 14 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., and I’ll share the other dates below.

Progressing Procurement and Improving Infrastructure
Hopefully you got the chance to read about the actions taken so far to improve the school system’s procurement woes.  

The statewide expert has begun his work to “reengineer” the entire department.  With his guidance, that process should be done by July 1.

I received another promising report at yesterday’s school board Facilities and Operations committee meeting.  With city council’s support in the upcoming budget, RPS is looking ahead to an unprecedented level of capital projects for ADA upgrades, City of the Future new/renovated school construction, and yearly maintenance/critical repairs next year.  The list of schools that need funds for HVAC, roof and other repairs are the most critical and time sensitive of the maintenance projects–not niceties but necessity to keep children protected from the elements during the school day.  These old buildings may be solid and beautiful, but they need on-going care to keep them functional.  Please thank council members for putting the funding in place for these projects as they finalize the city budget.

Don’t sit on the sidelines!
There’s much more to talk about, but I’m going to end with upcoming school board dates and a promise to touch on additional topics in the days ahead.

May 14 @ 6 p.m. - Public Forum on our superintendent search at TJ
May 17 @ 10 a.m. - Public Forum on our superintendent search at Lucille Brown
May 19 @ 6 p.m. - School Board meeting
May  21 @ 6 p.m. - Public Forum on our superintendent search at Franklin Military Academy
May 28 @ 6 p.m. - Public Forum on our superintendent search at Holton
May 28 @ 7 p.m. - 1st District Town Hall meeting featuring discussion of “Perception and our Public Schools”

I know it’s not the Near West End. But occasionally, as you have probably noticed, I’ll feature events outside the immediate area of they are free and look especially fun, and kid friendly.  Plus, my friend, Heidi Rugg, and her Barefoot Puppets, will be performing at 1p.m. and 4 p.m. that alone would be worth the trip.

So, here’s the scoop from the Carver & Jackson Ward News about this Sunday’s Broad Appetit:

The First Annual Broad Appétit Food and Art Celebration which will take over Broad Street between Adams and Monroe this coming Sunday, May 18th.

 

From the Broad Appétit site:

The first annual Broad Appétit Food Festival will feature Richmond’s favorite food purveyors, restaurants, chefs and artisans. The event is free to the public and is designed to feed your mind, body and soul with an eclectic mix of crafts and art, more food than you can imagine and a huge kid’s area with puppet shows and story-telling. A performing arts stage will host musical acts and performance artists, and demonstrations will be on hand from fascinating folks like our nations leading Bug Chefs and food revolution leader Joel Salatin.

The big taste-off will be the Taste Of Richmond – “To Die For” Dish Awards in 25 to 30 of Richmond’s best chefs prepare three mini-dishes, each of which the public can taste for $3. Each chef will submit one of those delicious dishes to be judged by a panel of experts who will determine who has the “To Die For” Dish of Richmond.

Check out the event schedule, the food, and the artists of the WHODUNNIT? exhibition @ Quirk Gallery.

We’ve been talking about Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods Market coming to Short Pump since way back in November. Well, my friend from journalism school back at VCU,  Jack Cooksey, over at Richmond Magazine picked up the story and has done a great job on the Grocery Wars and what these changes will mean to Ukrop’s and the rest of the Richmond grocery market.

Within the next two years, supermarkets around the region will launch an onslaught of changes. In an age when shoppers have more choices than time, the list of new developments is so extensive, it’s enough to make the Pillsbury doughboy’s head spin off.

The list includes no fewer than seven new grocery stores, at least three store expansions and a wave of remodeling projects.

The region’s big “gets” — in the opinion of many foodies — are the two major chains coming to Henrico County’s retail mecca, Short Pump. By 2009, Whole Foods Market plans to open a 35,000-square-foot store in West Broad Village, and Trader Joe’s is expected to arrive later this year with a 12,500-square-foot store in the adjacent Short Pump Station.

By November, Greensboro, N.C.-based grocer The Fresh Market expects to open its second store in the region on Huguenot Road, in space formerly occupied by a Barnes & Noble near Midlothian Turnpike.

Check out the whole story for some good reading on Richmond’s food industry about to change.   I also really like the price comparison snapshot feature, so one can all see an example of price differences at the local stores.

Did you know that the near west end is home to a shelter for women and thier children who are victims of domestic violence?  Come learn more about Safe Harbor Women’s Shelter – why domestic violence happens and what you can do about it.

1 in 4 women will be victims of domestic violence with in their lifetime.

That could be you, your mom, sister, neighbor…..anyone.

  The Free Seminar is Tuesday, June 24, 2008 from 6:30-9 pm at Safe Harbor Community Office at 2006 Bremo Rd Suite 201, in the Near West End.

RSVP by Friday, June 13 to Chris Cain at 804.249.9470 x15 or chris@safeharborshelter.com

 Safe Harbor was created to end the silence around this devastating social problem. Our mission is to break the cycle of domestic violence. Since 2000, Safe Harbor has been providing critical domestic violence services including: a 24-hour crisis hotline; emergency shelter; counseling services for adults and children; a women’s support group; court advocacy for victims seeking  protective orders in Henrico County; and customized community education and domestic violence prevention programs.

I was lucky enough to have a doctor’s appointment scheduled today for the new Bon Secours Heart Center building at Forest and Glenside. You know the one that towers over my neighborhood, Charles Glen. I got to take a sneak peek at the monster of a building that they’ve been working on for over a year. I am happy to say that while I couldn’t see my house from the 3rd floor, I did see my many neighbor’s houses, even those on my street.
When my dermatologist sent out a letter saying they were opening in the new building on May 5th, I was surprised because the building is still under construction.
The amount of glass that they used on the building makes for impressive views all around, of Glenside, Forest, and both the Fort Hill and Charles Glen neighborhoods. And despite the fact that I hate that the building is there at all, and it has made some of my neighbors move, I think they’ve done a good job with trying to make it look nice. Well, except that they need to provide a lot more landscape screening for our neighborhood. Actually, some of the houses in on Cornell Avenue feel like they are right in the parking lot of the new building.
There is a fountain on the Glenside/Forest side and also a large circular fountain on the side that faces the neighborhood as well. Inside, they’ve chosen mostly earth-tone colors and lots of marble. Photos are coming.

We’ve mentioned here before that Segway was going to start giving tours of Historic Richmond.  Well, I just found out that the new “Give Me Liberty Historic Segway Tours”  will begin departing at the Richmond Metropolitain Convention and Visitor’s Bureau Visitor Center starting on  May 17.

Here’s the scoop from Segway of Richmond’s Website:

The guided Segway tour is approximately 2.5 hours with a 15-minute lesson to make sure you’re safe and comfortable gliding around town. You’ll discover architectural features of downtown buildings.  Along the way, you’ll stop and see things you just can’t get to see by car. We can also design a personal tour just for you or your group. Just tell us where you like to begin,and we can arrange for local delivery/pick up for a nominal fee.

When: Tours begin daily,
7 days a week, at 10am
and 2pm.
Where: Meet at the Segway
of Richmond Store located
at 1301 East Cary St. in
Downtown Richmond. Tours
will begin at the Richmond Metro
Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Tickets: Tour tickets are
available at Segway of
Richmond or in advance
by calling 804.343.1850
Cost: $65 per person for a
2.5 Hour Tour.

WRIC reports:

University of Richmond officials have confirmed a suspect is in custody after a possible gunman was spotted on campus Tuesday.

Update:

They identified him as Seth A. Newman, 19, of the 1700 block of Chadwick Drive in Henrico County.

Chadwick Drive is just behind Cheswick Park in the Near West End.

[Via].

Update  May 8th from the Times-Dispatch:

A search warrant for the University of Richmond gun scare suspect’s home says he went into a campus library on Tuesday and told a worker there that he had heard people were having sex inside the building.

According to the warrant to search the home of Seth A. Newman, a UR library employee said the suspect was wearing a sheriff’s jacket “stated to her that he was a police officer, and that he had heard that people had been fornicating in the library and that he needed to spend the night.” The worker “asked for identification, he did not produce any, and then left the building.”

Also, the warrant - issued yesterday in Henrico County - states that a person matching the description of the UR suspect was seen leaving St. Joseph’s Home for the Aged at noon Tuesday, shortly before the incident at UR.

Newman, 19, appeared briefly in Richmond General District Court this morning.

I can’t believe it.  Style Weekly actually read my mind.  Now, I just have to hope that there are enough of us out here who believe that Richmond’s slave history needs to be told, commemorated and held sacred.  Style’s vision as Richmond as an Ellis Island to slaves is a new one to me.  Of course I’ve heard  of “being sold down river” and I know where that phrase came from. And I knew that Richmond was the slave-trading capital of the world, but still, having that image of millions of slaves sold at auction and the Slave Trail that I’ve walked actually being reversed was new to me.   I’ve always thought of the Africans who were brought here as slaves, when I’ve walked Richmond’s Slave Trail. It didn’t occur to me that many walked the opposite path.

Chris Dovi, did a great job with the article:

Like cattle, hundreds of thousands of men, women and children were herded from the bustling slave auctions of nearby Shockoe — the center of Virginia’s lucrative slave export market — and loaded onto boats for the long passage south. At one time, more than 10,000 souls passed through this port each month on their way to the misery of Deep South plantation slavery.

Prepping his line for another cast into the murky waters of the James River, Burison, who is black, says he’s a product of Richmond Public Schools. Now a successful professional — he has the look of a man who likes his jeans starched and pressed — with an education that took him far past Richmond’s closed classrooms, he says he didn’t even know about the Slave Trail until last year.

And it wasn’t until today that he knew its significance: As many as 10,000 men, women and children a month, up to 100,000 a year.

Burison’s smile vanishes. His moistened eyes stare for a long time across the river’s slow-moving waters. Words come slowly.

“Jesus,” he says, finally. “I think more people need to know that.”

Amen! 

Now, is Richmond ready to give up those tainted parking spots and do what is right? I hope so.

While Ellis Island is preserved, restored and interpreted for thousands of visitors who come each year seeking connection to their roots, Richmond’s history is capped off like a hazardous waste site.

Lumpkin’s, the old slave market at Cary and 15th streets, now provides monthly or daily parking rates for commuters. The old Negro burial ground — final resting place of an untold number of souls and perhaps of rebel slave leader Gabriel Prosser, who was hanged there — provides parking for VCU Medical Center staff. A historical marker for the site is down the block on Broad Street. Attempts by a local black history group to add signage at the lot have been rebuffed. Says one member of the group: “We were told the people who parked there complained that it made them uncomfortable to read about it.”

And then there’s Lumpkin’s Jail, a notorious slave holding pen and auction house known in its time as among the most brutish of the dozen such facilities in town. If Richmond was the central city of the country’s original sin, Lumpkin’s was, to many of the victims of that sin, the lowest rung of hell. Once called the “Devil’s Half Acre” by its victims, Lumpkin’s today is mostly covered by a city-owned parking lot.

To say that Richmond’s most valuable real estate is its downtown parking spaces may be the biggest understatement in Virginia history. Maybe even U.S. history.

“The fact that all of this is buried is sort of symbolic, I suppose,” Herring says. “But you never heal anything unless you confront it. We need to dig it up, rebuild it and show it to everybody — so that this city can finally come to terms with itself.”

A new expansion on an old arts contest means that children and adults with disablilties  will have a chance to enter and win in the National Arts Program® at Richmond. VSA arts of Virginia, with financial support from CVS/Caremark All Kids Can!^TM, and the city of Richmond Parks and Recreation department  will provide funding for new awards this year to recognize the talents of artists with disabilities in both the adult and youth divisions.

For a registration brochure , call 646-3674, or download one here.

            Anyone age 5 or older can submit artwork in The National Arts Program® at Richmond for a chance at winning cash prizes. Advance registration by June 4 is required, but there are no fees to participate and more than $3,000 in prize money will be awarded.

The exhibits will be open June 23 through July 18, and a reception, followed by an awards ceremony, and reception, featuring  entertainment provided by a band featuring musicians with disabilities, to be held at 7 p.m. on Sunday, June 29, at Science Museum of Virginia.  

Photo is from twitter.

Officials at the University of Richmond tonight say the area has been thoroughly searched and they do not believe a suspected armed man spotted in the library earlier today is on campus or in the neighborhood.

“Police feel the suspect has left the campus and the area,” said university spokesman Brian Eckert.

Authorities, however, are continuing their investigation while the school will reopen as scheduled Wednesday.

The university is asking employees, faculty and students to be vigilant and report any suspicious behavior. Also, Eckert said, there will be extra patrols overnight and tomorrow.

After first checking Boatwright Library, where the man was reported seen between 2:30 and 2:45 p.m., police inspected other buildings on the locked-down campus and the neighborhood, Richmond Police Chief Rodney Monroe said earlier tonight.

[via]

The Henrico County Extension Office continues its spring
lawn care seminar series  with a program on healthy lawns. The
seminar for the Near West End  is 7-8:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 14,  at the Tuckahoe Area Library, 1901 Starling Drive.

Building a Healthy Lawn will provide a variety of l
lawn-care information, including information on irrigation, fertilization, soil acidity
and weed control. Participants can also learn about SMART Lawns, a
seasonal, comprehensive program that teaches a step-by-step approach to
growing a healthy lawn. SMART Lawns teach environmentally
responsible practices, provides participants a plan tailored to fit
their specific lawn-care needs.

       The spring lawn care seminar series is free and open to the
public; however, participants should pre-register by calling  501-5160.

The Oaks, shown here late in the 1930s, was originally constructed in Amelia County, southwest of Richmond, perhaps in the mid eighteenth century. It was situated on land owned by Benjamin Harrison IV’ a descendant sold it to Daniel Jones in 1839. Early in the twentieth century, certain wealthy Richmond residents moved houses from the country to the city, hoping to thereby preserve them from abandonment or demolition. In 1930, the Oaks was moved to Windsor Farms, then a new development of colonial and English Style mansions. It is still there today. 

Caption from Historic Photos of Richmond by Emily and John Salmon.

I don’t talk about it much here, but one of my many other jobs is working at the Richmond Metro Convention & Visitor’s Bureau visitor’s center. There, I have the privilege of working with several women who know more about Richmond than I’ll ever know.  One in particular, Ann Thorne, is such an expert on Richmond history that she’s been known to teach the class that tour guides have to take in order to be educated enough to talk about Richmond’s long, detailed, and I might add confusing history.

When I found that we were working together last week, I took the opportunity to see if she’d take a peek at a book I’d just received, “Historic Photos of Richmond” by Emily and John Salmon.   I figured what better person to give an opinion on this book than a historian.  She said, even with the $39.95 price tag, she thought it was a  book she’d be happy to add to her collection. The reason she says this book is great is that so many of these photos have never been published before.  With the exception of about 15 out of the 200 photos, these are likely pictures of Richmond you’ve likely never seen.  Most are from the Library of Congress or the Library of Virginia archives.

Highlights include photos of  the unveiling of the Maury Monument, photos of the monuments on Monument Avenue surrounded by nothing but fields,  early photos of Richmond right after the Civil War from a Northerner’s perspective, the former Pratt’s Castle on Gamble’s Hill near Tredegar Iron Works, and a photo of a “contraband camp” of escaped slaves between Church Hill and the James River in 1865.

Yet another photo in the book I treasure is of the James River at Rocketts Landing, taken in 1865, showing the perspective believed to have inspired William Byrd II (Richmond’s founder) to name the town because it looked similar to Richmond-on-the-Thames in England.

Because the authors have good credentials — she is a senor copy editor in the Publications and Educational Services Division at the Library of Virginian  and co editor of The Hornbook Of Virginia History. He is a former archivist at the library of Virginia — the captions are details and accurate, save a few minor details.  Most of the photos are of the downtown area and captains focus on the architecture and weather the building has been demolished.

Authors Emily and John Salmon, will hold two book signings June 6th at 12:30 p.m. at Fountain Bookstore, and June 14th at  2 p.m.  at Barnes & Noble at Libbie Place in the Near West End.

The NASCAR Races are today and tomorrow.  So that means – avoid Laburnum Avenue and the Fairgrounds/Raceway area. Events run all day, both days, with the big races starting at 7:30 p.m.

The University of Richmond is trying to ease neighbors concerns about traffic of a proposed expansion to First Market Stadium, by agreeing to a timeline for road improvements, and trying to guide stadium traffic through entrances with the least neighborhood impact.  The proposed $25 million football stadium expansion, which would hold 8,700 people, will need a special use permit from the city.

John K. McCulla, coordinator of university relations, and other UR officials met last night with neighboring residents to brief them on the project.

After the meeting, McCulla said university officials are willing to improve UR Drive by the stadium’s opening in fall 2010 and to build a connecting road from Crenshaw Way to Spider Lane by fall 2011.

The improvements are expected to make UR Drive, one of two campus entrances from River Road and one of four overall, more inviting for stadium traffic. It also should have the least impact on neighbors.

McCulla said the timelines and new limits on stadium noise and lighting will be part of a revised permit application to be filed this week. University officials are hoping for approval by the Planning Commission and City Council in June.

[via]

330 PM EDT MON APR 28 2008
THE NATL WEATHER SVC IN WAKEFIELD HAS ISSUED AN
* URBAN & SMALL STREAM FLOOD ADVISORY FOR.
SOUTHEASTERN CHESTERFIELD COUNTY IN CNTL VA.
THIS INCLUDES THE CITY OF CHESTER.
CITY OF COLONIAL HEIGHTS IN CNTL VA.
SOUTHEASTERN HANOVER COUNTY IN CNTL VA.
SOUTHEASTERN HENRICO COUNTY IN CNTL VA.

Read more >

With recent news that another drive-thru Starbucks will come to Richmond, at Short Pump Town Center (behind the Chili’s), I wonder if it is only a matter of time before the Near West End gets the ever-so-indulgent drive-thru Starbucks. 

Thanks to a vigilant female student at University of Richmond, a suspected rapist is off the streets of Richmond.

A man awaiting trial on rape charges in Hanover County had his bond revoked after a University of Richmond student said he had been watching her and acting suspiciously.

Timothy Hargett, 29, of Henrico County faces felony charges of abduction, object sexual penetration, and two counts each of rape and forcible sodomy.

In that case, a woman told authorities that she was raped and forced to perform oral sex early the morning of Dec. 2 in a car in the Mechanicsville area.

Richmond’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities announces a call for entries in its 10th annual National Arts Program® at Richmond. More than $3,000 in prize money will be awarded through the program to artists of all ages and levels of experience. The program is free to enter, and all artwork submitted according to the rules will be exhibited in one of two shows that will hang from June 23 to July 18.

Youth ages 5-17 are invited to submit their works of art to compete for awards in the Youth and Teen Showcase, to be held at the Science Museum of Virginia, while adults may submit their work to compete in Creative Reflections, which will be held at Pine Camp Arts and Community Center.

The National Arts Program® is one of the most innovative grassroots arts projects in the country and has achieved widespread recognition for successfully nurturing creativity and fostering self-confidence among artists. It is sponsored by the National Arts Program Foundation of Malvern PA and here in Richmond by the Richmond Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities’ art program. Additional sponsorship is provided by VSA Arts of Virginia, CVS Caremark/All Kids Can, the Science Museum of Virginia, and the James River Art League.

Registration brochures providing details on how to enter are available at Pine Camp, which is located at 4901 Old Brook Road, or by calling 804-646-3674.

Anyone who wants to enter their artwork, must register to enter by June 4. For more information, call Darlene Marschak
804-646-3674.

The USA Triathlon Duathlon National Championships come to Richmond this weekend. If you are not racing, consider volunteering or being a spectator. This is a huge two-day format featuring off-road events on Saturday and on-road events on Sunday. The National Duathlon Festival has attracted a broad range of athletes from far and wide plus the opportunity to watch the winner of national championships cross the finish line. Here is the official schedule and the all important road closures.

Official Schedule

Saturday, April 26, 2008

7:30 a.m. Off-Road Youth Age Group Races (7-8, 9-10, 11-12) –1k run, 4k bike, 1k run 8:30 a.m. Off-Road Junior Age Group Races (13-15, 16-19) — 5k run, 10k bike, 2.5k run
Sport Race (non-championship) — 5k run, 10k bike, 2.5k run 10:30 a.m. Off-Road Championships –10k run, 30k bike, 5k run

Sunday, April 27, 2008

7 a.m. Age Group Races — 10k run, 40k bike, 5k run 9:30 a.m. Elite Races –10k run, 40k bike, 5k run - Draft Legal 11:30 a.m. Youth Nationals (7-8, 9-10 and 11-12) — 1k run, 5k bike, 1k run 12 Noon Junior Nationals (13-15 and 16-19) — 5k run, 20k bike, 2.5k run - Draft Legal 1 p.m. Sport Race (non-championship) –5k run, 20k bike, 2.5k run

Road Closures for Friday, April 25th
2nd Street from Byrd Street to Lee Bridge closed – 7:00 p.m. Friday through 1:00 p.m. Sunday

Road Closures for Saturday, April 26th
2nd Street from Byrd Street to Lee Bridge closed – all day.
Byrd Street between 2nd Street and 3rd Streets closed – all day.

Road Closures for Sunday, April 27th
2nd Street from Byrd Street to Lee Bridge closed – Until 1:00 p.m.
Byrd Street between 2nd Street and 3rd Streets closed – Until 1:00 p.m.
The curb lane of the Lee Bridge closed in both directions — 7:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Riverside Drive closed from Lee Bridge access ramps to 42nd Street — 7:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
42nd Street from Riverside Drive to Springhill Avenue partially closed, police present to monitor and control — 7:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Parking on both sides of 42nd Street prohibited — 7:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

* Spring Playground Clean Up Day (and Pancake Breakfast!) are THIS SATURDAY at Mary Munford *

If you use the playground, why not stop by and help make it prettier?

Saturday, April 26 from 8am-noon. Volunteers are needed to help weed, prune and mulch both playgrounds. You do not need to stay the entire 4 hours. Any time that you can give would be appreciated. Feel free to bring any gardening tools that you may have. When you arrive, look for the sign up list of jobs by the doors to the cafeteria.

Also, the same morning, the Compass Club with Paula Katz is hosting a Pancake Breakfast in the cafeteria. Families can come for a great pancake breakfast, then work off all the calories helping with the playground work! The breakfast is $5 for adults and $3 for children. Proceeds will go towards the club’s charitable giving to the children of Southeast Asia.