From Richmond Police Department:
N. Laurel Street between W. Main Street & S. Cathedral Pl. will be CLOSED June 9th, 10th, 11th, & 12th. The hours of closure for each day will be from 1 PM to 6:30 PM. There will be No Parking permitted in this location during these dates & times. Altria Theater will be having High School Graduations on those days.
Zachary Brown, Ghazala Hashmi, and Eileen McNeil Bedell are running in the Democratic primary for Virginia State Senate District 10 on June 11, 2019. There are no candidates on the ballot in the Republican primary at this time. Glen Sturtevant is the elected Republican incumbent.
This might seem a little late in the game, but here are some pointed questions for the Democratic candidates leading up to Tuesday’s primary. Oregon Hill is a key neighborhood of voters in the 10th. Hopefully candidates will take the time to leave answers in the comments on this post.
Since other neighborhoods (and countries) have received written commitments from the Virginia Commonwealth University administration, as our State Senator will you require a written agreement from VCU that they will not encroach further into our historic neighborhood? In other words, what will you do specifically to protect our neighborhood from VCU, a state institution that the City cannot or will not control?
Some background on this can be found here, here, and here.
Anyone who has lived in Richmond for any length of time knows or should know that the City government is ripping its own citizens off with its water utility. Despite all the conjecture and follow up attempts, the current City administration has not showed any interest in reform and points to state code that they say allows them to continue with the status quo. As State Senator what will you specifically do to address this gross environmental/economic injustice?
More Oregon Hill neighbors have expressed interest in adding solar to their roofs. As a candidate for State Senate, do you support eliminating the 1% cap on distributed solar?
Many neighbors view climate change as the most important environmental issue impacting not only our natural environment but our economy, our quality of life and our national security. As a candidate for State Senate will you sign the Sierra Club Virginia Chapter’s climate pledge and permit them to list you among the candidates signing the pledge?
Oregon Hill is not one of Richmond’s wealthier neighborhoods, and in fact, in part due to its student population, is technically an impoverished area. As State Senator will you support legislation to address any disproportionate economic impact that changes in energy and climate policy have on disadvantaged communities?
Oregon Hill is one of the City neighborhoods that has been redistricted in recent years. In the 2019 session, the General Assembly passed a redistricting reform resolution that would amend the Virginia constitution to significantly improve the redistricting process. Passage of the same resolution in 2020 is necessary in order to move this reform along as a Virginia Constitutional amendment subject to a referendum on the November 2020 ballot. As State Senator will you vote for and support in the 2020 legislative session the redistricting reform resolution that passed in 2019?
Again, I invite candidates to leave their answers as comments on this post.
The Main Public Library will be holding a screening of the documentary, “The American South as We Know It”, on Sunday (June 9th) at 2pm. It will be presented by director and producer, Frederick Murphy. Discussion and Q&A to follow the film.
The American South As We Know It explores the lives and experiences of African-Americans during the Jim Crow era. This film depicts a time when racial tension was at its peak. The educators, historians and brave “everyday” people featured in this documentary, express their vested interest in creating a comprehensive narrative of what life was like for African-Americans in the south.
REGISTRATION: https://rvalibrary.libcal.com/event/5248430
Laurel Street neighbor Greta Brinkman is back in town and she is re-launching her framing business. She makes frames out of antique reclaimed heart pine from the RVA area. She has many, many different types and sizes. For example, L-R: 5 x 7 wainscoting from a 1910 house in Oregon Hill 30.00. 4×6 beam from a 1892 church in Ashland 25.00. One remaining DAMAGE MANUAL hammer for the Pigface fans, also from that church- 60.00. And a 1930’s piece of veranda trim from Charlottesville 25.00. All frames come with glass and hardware, they’re ready to go!
OHNA President Todd Woodson posted this today:
So proud of our great Open High students. Our neighborhood association partnered with Open, Richmond Parks and with a generous grant from Dominion Energy, we established a pollinator curriculum with a working hive area that the students maintain. The Mentor checked the hives today and said he’d never seen hives flourish like this with lots of honey already produced. This is the first initiative of its kind in the area. Would love to see it grow and flourish as well! We love our bees and our great students!!
From the Virginia War Memorial’s event page:
Thursday, June 6, 2019 – 10:00am to 1:00pm
Watch the ceremony commemorating the 75th anniversary of D-Day streamed live from the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford, Virginia.Scheduled events include:
10:00 a.m. – Aerial Tribute to the Veterans of WWII
11:00 a.m. – “The Final Salute” Commemorative Observance
The band Dangerous Summer is releasing a new album called Mother Nature on Hopeless Records. They are playing the Canal Club on June 15. One of their songs off the new record is called “Virginia”. Lyrics go like this and namecheck the neighborhood…
You woke me up, I didn’t know I’d fallen back to sleep
‘Cause you were alive inside my dreams
You were a freebird in the blue skies ahead
We should walk instead of driving, we we can talk and give our minds up
Watch the city line turn to goldTake me to Oregon Hill
Take me to The James River
Take me to the ocean floor
Throw me in the waterCan you let me know you’re holding on?
Let me know you’re holding on
Let me know you’re holding on for one more dayEnd the night entangled in your arms on LSD
Finding the art in everything
Even blue skies pray for thunder and rain
If I could live inside your heart, and somewhere safe next to your garden
Watch the colors burn to goldYou pick me up when I lose self-control
You gave me everything I needed to find the best of myself
The light of the opening door
Crash
Fall all around me, it’s calm now
You give me a reason to stay, I don’t want to live far away
I wish on the morning that’s outside after the moments of clarity
Yeah, after the moments with you
I’d spend every morning with you
It’s been a while since OregonHill.net mentioned the Birdhouse Market- part of that has to do with the fact that the farmer’s market moved out of Oregon Hill into neighboring Randolph neighborhood, and part of it has to do with that for some reason we stopped receiving their e-newsletter. But we have started receiving it again and its good because the Birdhouse Market has expended in size since their move. More vendors = more choices, and right now, the Market is in full swing with summer growing season. They are open every Tuesday 3 – 6:30PM from May to November at 1507 Grayland Ave, next to the Randolph Community Center. For more info, click here to go to their website.
This week they are highlighting their vendor Back Pocket Briliance, which does some really great tasting bloody mary mixes. They work with independent small farms all over Virginia and spend their summers pressing fresh, ripe tomatoes into their mixes. Come sample them this afternoon.
This Wednesday is a “Red Wednesday”, which means trash and recycling pickup. Ideally, rolling recycling containers are stored and deployed in the back alleys along with trash cans. Please make sure you pick up containers after pickup tomorrow night.
If you have not done so already, don’t forget to sign up for your Recycling Perks.
In order to take your recycling to the next level, read this: 10 ways to improve your recycling.
Saw this posted:
MISSING!!! missing from Hollywood Cemetery area since this morning. Very good dog, sweet, not aggressive. Goes by the name of Zeus. Please share.
Call or message 8049057973 with any info please
Update as of 6/6- heard the dog has been found.