WRIR LP 97.3 FM - Richmond Independent Radio News

Richmond's Redistricting History

2011-08-05T15:01:00.009-04:00

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As city redistricting meetings come to a close, city legislators prepare to present a redistricting plan to the Justice Department. The approved plan will take effect on January 1, 2012. The required approval from the Justice Department is a protective measure put in place by the Voting Rights Act of 1965. But Richmond’s nine voting districts have their own controversial history, forcing redistricting plans to revisit a dark period in the River City’s Past

In1977, the Supreme Court ruled that the city of Richmond had violated the Voting Rights Act by illegally annexing 23 sq. miles of Chesterfield County to dilute the voting power of Richmond’s growing Black population.

On June 19th of this year, the Mayor’s Advisory Council on Redistricting held a meeting in City Hall to come to a resolution on city redistricting suggestions. Early in the meeting, David Hicks, Senior Policy Advisor to the mayor emphasized the importance of poverty distribution and racial balance. During the meeting the committee discussed plans that aimed to disperse poverty throughout more districts and address the continued disenfranchisement of people of color.

Hicks explained, “One of the fundamental questions is what is it that we can do a critical structure to engage the people and the process that can at least address the entrenched poverty. And another issue is whether or not, you know the continued existence of, you know a political system that’s based solely on a black-white distinction still has any place. And that’s not to say there’s still not a need for Voting Rights Act or there’s still not a need to protect the constitutional rights especially of historically disenfranchised people, but it is to say that there are many more considerations that people look at especially now today then they maybe looked at in the 60s when it comes to black-white race issues.”

Hicks was speaking to the 1977 Supreme Court ruling which called for the creation of four black districts, four white districts and one swing district to replace the city’s existing at-large elections. Although the council has yet to approve any redistricting plans, the committee’s discussions are vital in helping Richmond understand its history of politics based solely on racial lines and whether dispersing African American residents will in fact encourage equal representation in the future.

Professor emeritus of urban studies and planning, Dr. John Moeser describes the long history of white dominated politics in Richmond. The story of annexation began in 1948 when at-large elections were adopted. Affluent white Richmonders maintained an overwhelming influence on city and state politics.

Moeser said, “Race loomed large and the white power structure looked uneasily, particularly after 1950, at the growth of the black population. They were so concerned they began to think about how to maintain a white majority here in the capital city of Richmond Virginia.”

In the 1960s demographers predicted that the Black population of Richmond would reach 52% by 1970. In order to prevent an end to white dominated politics the top leaders of the city of Richmond and Chesterfield County met to discuss annexation in a series of secret meetings. Chesterfield County was predominately white, and its annexation would mean a solution to the increasing influence of African Americans in Richmond. Eventually a judge approved the annexation and Richmond gained 23 sq. miles of Chesterfield County.

Moeser said, “That annexation proved to be very effective. The black population which on December 31st was 52%, suddenly plummeted to 42%”

Black Richmonders would not accept this affront to their political power. In 1971 Curtis Holt, a Civil Rights activist, maintenance man and president of the Creighton Court Civic association sued to block the annexation on the grounds that it diluted black voting strength.

Moeser said, “He didn’t have a lot of education, but he knew instinctively that what happened was wrong. So a suit was filed in federal court challenging the annexation.”

The lawsuit gained notoriety and Holt found himself deeply involved in a complicated series of court cases. Holt argued for de-annexation based on the 14th amendment.However, when the case reached the Supreme Court in 1977 the justices’ ultimate ruling was based on 1965 Voting Rights Act.

Moeser explained, “What happened was the city had not gotten approval from the federal government when it annexed Chesterfield County, and so that was the point of law that really carried the day.”

Although the Supreme Court found the annexation constitutionally impermissible, they did not call for deannexation as Curtis Holt had hoped.

Moeser said, “The city was able to argue to the satisfaction of the Supreme Court that the annexation was important for economic reasons so the court said ok, in order to keep the annexation, your going to have to get rid of these at large elections and you are going to have to adopt a 9 ward system of representation.”

In 1977 the city held a special election to test district representation. Although the annexation remained, the city created, under extreme scrutiny, a nine district system that would equally represent both black and white interests. After elections, for the first time in Richmond’s history, a majority of city council seats were held by black politicians. Additionally, the council appointed the city’s first African American mayor, Henry Marsh III.

Dr. Edward Peeples is an emeritus professor at Virginia Commonwealth University and an accomplished Civil Rights activist.

Peeples remembered, “But we did see a creeping power of black electorate and saw more and more people emerge as leaders in the Black community, and that was encouraging to us. Well, we had more black candidates and more blacks on council and in that period when there was a lot of hostility between Main Street and the black community.”

Born in 1935 and raised in South Richmond, Peeples remembers growing up surrounded by white supremacy and strict segregation. As Peeples experienced it, racism practiced by working class whites like himself was a result of careful manipulation by more powerful whites who most benefited from racial dominance. Racial tensions remained high after the first district elections, even with a Black Mayor.

Peeples explained, “A bitterness arose. It was always five to four or four to five on any issue that had race. Now people will say well good grief they agree on 80% on the stuff. But that was little things like zoning that didn’t have a racial component to it. Yea, there was a lot of agreement. But these were non consequential when it came to human rights. But when it came to human rights there was this bitterness that came between them.”

The African American population in Richmond today still remains underrepresented due to decreased voter participation in Richmond’s poorest neighborhoods. Additionally, the city council today holds a 6 to 3 white majority.

-Annie Brown

(Image One Courtesy of Richmond City Government, Image Two Courtesy of Fanofthefan.com )

The City of Richmond Offers Citizens Relief from Excessive Heat with Cooling Stations

2011-08-03T11:00:00.007-04:00

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This summer the City of Richmond has activated cooling shelters when the temperature or heat index reached or exceeded 95 degrees. There are three locations, each open to the public, that serve as cooling stations: the Department of Social Services located at 900 East Marshall Street, 701 North 25th Street at the East District Center, and the Southside Community Services Center at 4100 Hull Street Road.

WRIR LP 97.3 FM Local News Team visited both the Marshall Street and Hull Street Road locations to observe and interview Richmonders at the cooling shelters.

One citizen commented she didn’t know the site had been allocated as such until her arrival.

“I actually had a meeting at three o’clock, and the sign said cooling station, so I picked up some water, and that was it,” she said.

She said with the weather being so hot she attempted to beat the heat by drinking lots of water and staying in shaded areas when faced with spending time outdoors.

Another Individual said he knew the location had been designated as a place for people to go on hot days, and he watched many come inside for water.

“Well very frequently, I would say every five, ten, minutes,” he said. “Even as I travel to and from the building, I observe people benefiting from it, and people appreciate it.”

Jean Karppinen with the Family Preservation Team C at the Southside Community Center said she was aware the building served as a cooling shelter for both customers and citizens during regular business hours when the temperature reached a certain point.

“What I like to do is I like to take a little squirt bottle, just with water, and spray myself down,” she said. “That keeps me cool.”

Josephine Myers Deputy Director for the Department of Social Services for the City of Richmond said cooling sites offer the general public cool water and air conditioning relief during the hottest part of the day.

“We activate if there is an excessive heat advisory or a warning that’s been issued by the National Weather Service,” she said. “If the heat index is expected to exceed 95 degrees, or the temperature expected to exceed 95 degrees we would generally activate a cooling shelter.”

She said the city-wide cooling shelters have been providing these services for many years.

“It was put together by our staff here at the Department of Social Services, we started this in 2006 and it was the idea of our then Director of Social Services,” she said. “I function as the shelter manager for the department when we have a need to open disaster shelters, so this task was given to me, to come up with a process of the protocol.”

Myers said a branch of the Fire Department operates as the Department of Emergency Management.

“We generally have citizens classes, we have a team of volunteers that come in and we give them a disaster kit and we talk about cold weather, hot weather, that kind of thing, and of course when we activate our shelters we do a press release, and we give some tips in terms of what folks need to bring if they come, what’s provided,” she said. “We do a lot of marketing once we are activating.”

She said the Department of Social Services is currently working on collaborating with non-profit organizations in the community in hopes of increasing the amount of cooling stations as well as expanding the services offered.

“On weekends when we activate shelters, we’re only activated from twelve noon to five, so we’re trying to partner with some community organizations so that we can take advantage of their facilities so that we can extend the hours, maybe starting at nine, or eight o’clock in the morning, and maybe expanding all the way up until eight or nine at night,” she said. “Generally when the temperature exceeds 95, and we’ve been recently getting temperatures as high as 100, 107, it extends into the evening hours.”

The City of Richmond has issued several press releases urging citizens to stay hydrated and avoid prolonged exposure to the heat during daylight hours and reminded in the event of a heat related emergency, please call 9-1-1.

-Sarah A. Freiseis

Richmond Fosters Appreciation For Works By Russian Jeweler Peter Carl Fabergé

2011-07-15T11:21:00.007-04:00

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On July 7^th WRIR Local News attended the media preview of Fabergé Revealed at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. The exhibition features over 500 objects, making it the largest collection of Fabergé in the United States, and as an exclusive to the VMFA will not travel.

Internationally renowned Fabergé scholar Dr. Geza von Habsburg joined the VMFA as Faberegé guest curator and authored Fabergé Revealed the book. He said his Fabergé story is one that goes back over forty years.

“I have known the collection for many, many years and the director had decided that it needed, really, a modern publication," he said. "I was available and I just offered to do the catalogue - that was two and a half years ago.”

Dr. Geza von Habsburg said he is delighted to have been involved in the project and gladly shares his excitement for the collection.

“An absolutely unique opportunity to come and view some of the finest pieces by Fabergé in the whole world, and Fabergé is such a pleaser to the public, that it’s going to be very well attended.”

VMFA Director, Alex Nyerges said putting together a showing of this magnitude goes back many years. He said as they defined the exhibition and determined who and what the team would include, getting Dr.Geza von Habsburg to be a part of that team became critical as he considers the doctor to be the most foremost expert in the field.

“It was essential because there were several things, one is creating the exhibition, two is creating a permanent collection installation which will actually happen in 2014, but then the other is the creation of this seminal volume of scholarship, that seven pounds of book, on the Pratt collection and all of our Fabergé work, so that's a much longer undertaking,” he said. “Geza’s intense scholarly work has been the last couple of years, but then going along with that we have the design of the publication, the photography that happens, the design of the exhibition, all of the loan materials which require extensive paperwork and contact, there’s shipping and insurance - a myriad of details that are handled by all of our staff here. We have people who are registrars, experts in handling loans, we he have designers, photographers, and they’re all the best.”

Nyerges said the museum's public relations and marketing departments create media materials for events like this one, and futhermore the special events department gets involved, housekeeping, food and beverage - all are considered in the big picture.

“Last night we had a sponsors event for all of our major patrons, and so brought them in here and we had 850 people from not just around Richmond, and Virginia, but literally from around the world," he said. "And then the other component today is the scholars day, where from now till eight o’clock tonight we have got sixty or eighty scholars from across the globe from Russia, from Finland, from the UK, from across America and Canada, it's the largest brain trust about Fabergé ever.”

He said the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts hosted an exhibition of Fabergé in 1996 called Fabergé America and it drew in about 120,000 visitors. He said they anticipate Fabergé Revealed to do very well, especially considering Fabergé is the number one attraction in the permanent collection at the museum, and has been for seventy years.

“Be prepared to be dazzled, even if you don’t like jewelry and you don’t have any interest in the Romanovs and the Tsars, these are the most dazzling, intricate, amazing objects that have ever been created,” he said. “Fabergé and his workshop - the best jeweler in the world, in history, period.”

A large majority of the Fabergé collection at the VMFA was donated by Lillian Thomas Pratt in 1947. Additionally the Fabergé Revealed exhibition showcases over 100 pieces belonging to Fabergé enthusiast and collector, Dr. Daniel Hodges.

"Being from Virginia, born and raised in Roanoke, it's kind of neat," he said. "Lillian Pratt with her Fabergé collection, and a 21st century collector of Fabergé, looking at what could be purchased fifty to seventy years ago as opposed to what you can obtain now, it's different.”

Hodges, who divides his time between Virginia and Louisiana said he was inspired to lend his collection to the museum in New Orleans post Katrina. He said although he had only ever intended it to be private, the Hodges Family Collection of New Orleans has been a good thing.

"I’ve always been a chronic collector - American paintings and furniture and what not, and I happened upon some pieces by Fabergé, and I realized the amount of work that went into making them, I mean thousands of hours to make one piece, and just the detail it was phenomenal," he said. "So I bought my first piece and then bought another piece, and then I started collecting and then researching and running all over the world - running these pieces down, it’s kind of a treasure hunt, and it’s been phenomenal, thus far I've got like 150 pieces, they were just things that I used in my home and enjoyed."

Fabergé Revealed opened to the public this past Saturday, July 9th, and will run through the second of October.

-Sarah A. Freiseis

Local Band Black Girls Mix Smooth Music with Controversial Name

2011-06-29T08:42:00.011-04:00

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Black Girls was one of 94 bands performing at this year's Mid-Atlantic College Radio Conference, better known as MACRoCk. The event, in its 14^th year, was held this past April 1^st and 2^nd in Harrisonburg, Virginia and hopes to promote and support college radio, independent artists and labels, as well as their fans. Last year's event hosted big names like Animal Collective, but this year the spotlight returned to up-and-coming Virginia bands like Black Girls.

After their performance at MACRoCk, Black Girls band members, Mike Bryant – piano and lead guitar, Fletcher – rhythm guitar and background vocals, Stephen Ferris IV – drums and background vocals, sat down with Richmond Independent Radio News to discuss their unique sound and upcoming plans. Right now, Black Girls have a CD collection of songs available for listeners and the band is in the process of recording their first EP. Although Black Girls formed two years ago, many of the band have played together since their college days.

“We put together a band of like, it was called River City Choir and it was just like whiskey drinking americana music, and it wasn’t really anything.”

“It wasn’t much. We played some backyard parties and stuff.”

“We just enjoyed each other’s company so much, we were like you know what let’s plug in the instruments and start a real band.”

“We kept going got some electric guitars and blah blah blah.”

Since those early days, Black Girls have traveled light-years musically from “whiskey drinking americana” to “snuff rock” a mix of surf, psychedelic, glam and soul. Snuff rock isn't just a sound or a tongue-in-cheek reference to substance abuse, it's a movement according to the Black Girl's record label, Worthless Junk Records. The band says its funk-infused snuff rock is influenced by T.Rex, The Dream, Sly and the Family Stone, R.Kelly as well as Steely Dan.

“Steely Dan is probably the hugest of them all, and that's not a joke.”

With a musical style all their own and a controversial name, Black Girls are getting noticed by Richmond concert-goers as well as the local press. However, the media reviews are a mixed bag. While Style Weekly named Black Girls the “The Best Band of 2011,” RVA magazine editor Andrew Necci was not so kind.

“Put it on the record that RVA magazine is not supporters of Black Girls ('the editor of RVA magazine') yea, he called us hipster, racist douche bags blah blah blah the whole nine yards. Never seen the show, never heard the music. No, but we enjoy it. I think any press is good press.”

The name “Black Girls” was not chosen to stir up trouble, it is meant to coincide with the band's unique sound. While all six members of the band are white, male, self-proclaimed hipsters, their music is melodic, soulful and distinctly southern.

“We think it’s a funny thing that people come up and one of the first things they say to us after they see our music they say to us, ‘That’s not what we expected’ and that’s kind of what we go for. The music’s like a little smoother. It’s not…I dunno. It’s a different kind of thing and you would think a bunch of hipster douche-bag looking guys like us ('racist hipster douche-bags, laughs') to make music like that, and so we think the name fits.”

When Style Weekly voted Black Girls “The Best Band of 2011”, the band told Style that it owes its accelerated ascension on the local music scene to “hard work and the support from fans.”

“We play Richmond a lot. We have a good fan-base there. People are really supportive of us in Richmond”.

While the band has a number of Richmond shows scheduled for the near future, Black Girls plans to refocus its energy towards song-writing and national recognition.

“We’re going to do a Southern kind of thing this summer (in Georgia right?) Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, whatever. (And then West Virginia) Oh yea, we’re playing Camp Barefoot in West Virginia it’s a festival (a hippy festival) a hippy jam band festival which should be awesome…I guess.”

Keep an eye out for this up-and-coming Richmond band with a smooth snuff rock sound. Although their name offends some their fan-base continues to grow. So let's settle this once and for all, are the Black Girls a bunch of racist hipsters?

“Yea, obviously. Wait but, no should be in there for the edit. But, for the edit 'no.' A few seconds of silence…No.”

-Annie Brown

The City of Richmond Recognizes a Pothole Problem, Asks Citizens to Help Them Fix It

2011-05-20T11:01:00.007-04:00

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The local news team at WRIR LP 97.3 FM has been following reports on the road conditions in Richmond specifically in regards to potholes in the area. This issue was brought to the forefront of concern following heavy snow in early 2010. Since that time there have been marked improvements but the issue remains a concern and our investigating team set out to determine what it really takes to fill a pothole.

We wanted to test a theory - is reporting a problem half the battle? Meaning if our local government doesn't know about a specific pothole, how is to be fixed; and secondly what are the results of asking citizens to report and monitor issues.

We reported potholes throughout the Richmond area using www.seeclickfix.com. The potholes varied in size, location, proximity to one another, and assorted traffic patterns. With each entry we received an email confirming our submission.

We were also informed of certain "acknowledged" potholes via email within a few days of submission.

We hit the streets to revisit an "acknowledged" pothole and found a traffic cone positioned next to the pothole which measured approximately 8 inches in depth. A few days, and a rainstorm later, we returned to find the pothole had yet to be filled, however the cone had been placed inside of the pothole that was completely filled with water, disguising its magnitude.

We wanted to learn more about what happens between submission and the point at which the pothole is fixed and the issue is marked as "closed."

Ben Berkowitz, CEO and co-founder of SeeClickFix.com, explained using the system for reporting potholes and said the site is a platform for citizens to report anything in a public space that is broken or damaged and needs to be fixed.

He said, "I would open the SeeClickFix app, which is a free app that can be installed on your phone, I would take a photo of the problem, and I would get my GPS location, or I would map the location using the application, then I would give a quick summary and a description, so it might be 'pothole and it's four feet wide and in the right lane' in the description field, and then I hit submit."

He said items posted on the website are sent by email to local governments and other agencies within a given community that are involved with fixing problems. He said each issue reported is submitted as open, and once the individual or party responsible for that area is notified they are able to participate in an open forum conversation where community members can also give a problem more clout by voting up an issue.

In terms of priority I think that governments typically respond, no matter how many votes there are,” he said. “Votes definitely help to avoid duplicate issues in the government, and they help neighbors connect with each other around problems."

He said he was inspired to create the site after having troubles with graffiti in his own neighborhood (not in Virginia), after calling city hall and leaving many messages he felt like those types of concerns should be publicly documented.

"Your government may fix a pothole, or your neighbor may clean up graffiti on a building, or help improve a park," he said. "So there is an ecosystem of people who are helping and augmenting government improve the public space not just by reporting but also by solving problems.”

He said media partners play an important role in fixing issues by spreading the word about SeeClickFix.com and by embedding a widget on local news sites which helps encourage citizens to use the tool.

"There's always been this somewhat adverse relationship between local media and local government when it comes to pointing out problems,” he said. “But this is a way for local media to hold government accountable while government is holding themselves accountable in a constructive way where government can actually act on the individual concerns.”

Berkowitz said Richmond is unique because the city's 311 call takers input issues they take over the phone into SeeClickFix and manage the complaints though their tracking system.

"The Mayor had an open government and mobile initiative that he thought SeeClickFix would be a really good fit for, so they reached out to us," he said. "Richmond is using one of our pro tools called SeeClickFix plus and what that means is when you open the iPhone or Android application in Richmond the city's logo shows up on the application, and the different service request types that they want reported will be reported to them."

Sharon North, Public Information Manager for the City of Richmond's Department of Public Works, said Mayor Jones enacted a program called MPACT Mayors Participation Action Communication Team.

“You can enter just about anything you want on a SeeClickFix, we see a lot of is a straddle between three departments, public utilities, public works, and police," she said. "From the public works standpoint we see a lot with potholes, with people wanting bulk and brush pick-ups, or if trees need to be trimmed back with urban forestry.”

She said many of the areas listed for reporting are related to public works issues, and when public works crews see a pothole they report it just like a citizen would.

"The Department of Public Works is one of the city’s largest departments," she said. "Everything from the civil infrastructure, civil engineering, all the way down to solid waste collection, there’s urban forestry, roadway maintenance, street cleaning, vacuum leaf collection, pothole repair which is a part of roadway, major capital improvements like major paving projects, transportation engineering which is street lights, traffic lights, pavement markings, grounds maintenance, the lawns on city properties and city parks."

North said ideally the department would be able to fill every pothole the moment it’s reported, but at this particular point on average it's anywhere from ten to nineteen days.

“With potholes particularly they are prioritized based upon safety, safety is a primary concern for just about everything that we do in the Department of Public Works," she said. "Next we look at location and size of the pothole.”

The WRIR News Team discovered most of the potholes reported were fixed just outside of the average range. We also noted that the larger and more dangerous potholes were given priority. They were flagged as problematic, marked with traffic cones, and filled at a faster rate than the less damaging potholes reported. SeeClickFix is a user-friendly tool that allowed us to take part in the process and prompted us to dig a little deeper in understanding the procedure involved in turning a pesky pothole into a thing of the past.

-Sarah A. Freiseis

It's Not First Friday but Richmond Artists Have Some Work to Show You Tonight

2011-04-29T10:07:00.008-04:00

Listen to the full audio here.

Art Walk has become a mainstay in Richmond and over 40 venues in Historic Jackson Ward and Monroe Ward draw crowds every first Friday of the month. But the growing artists district isn't the only avenue for Richmonders to see what local artists have been creating.

Tonight at 216 E. Main St. Reference Gallery will host "Thick Blood" featuring Richmond-based artists James Callahan, Taylor Baldwin and musical act Gull.

The show's curator Tim Bearse said the show is all about: "Death, dismemberment, ecological anxiety, bad behavior and sort of cult interior behaviors."

James Callahan makes comics under the name Barf. Taylor Baldwin is a sculpture artist who studied at VCU. And Gull is a one man band Bearse describes as "pretty much indescribable." Bearse said he wanted to bring these artists together because:

"I felt like there were great overlaps between people like working in a comic idiom and sculpture and this pretty much completely amazing one man metal act. With overlapping themes. Themes that seemed so related. In terms of where they start. Where their source is."

And Bearse said though the subject matter all three artists are dealing with is similar, this show provides a coming together of distinct audiences.

"All of these artists are together because I feel like they have very different followings of people who look at their work but maybe the themes and the sensibilities. I thought it would be great to do a show where like multiple kind of different art viewers could come together and see something that had a similiar theme or overlap. Also all of these artists are Richmond artists, working in town. So that was really important too."

The opening of the show begins tonight at 7:30pm and runs until 11pm with Gull performing at 9 o'clock. And if you miss it tonight, "Thick Blood" will be up until May 10th.

Further up Main St., at 101 S. Addison, the newly created gallery Day Tripper will showcase "Cuts" featuring a dozen artists, many from or based in Richmond.

The impetus of the show is Marshall Higgins who said he was bored a couple of months ago and decided to compile a book of his friends' art to have published by the website Blurb.

"And it snowballed from there and I got the book to be over 52 pages and then a friend said why don't you do a show to support it. Just kept on doing it and it rolled from there."

Higgins only stipulation for submitted work was it had to be created by cutting paper or another flat medium. He said that was because

"It was the easiest way I could see to sort of democratize it. Like I've got a lot of friends who are really, really good at drawing or painting or stuff like that but I have other people who have stuff to show me who are afraid to draw, you know? So that way it would be a little less austere and a little bit silly in a way."

And he said what came out of the assignment ran the gamut.

"Some of them my friend described yesterday as kindergarten chic where it's just silly but it's really well done, silly kind of playful. Some of them look like borderline photo realistic."

The opening is tonight from 7pm until 11pm and the book titled "Cuts" will be available for purchase. All the profit from sales of the book, one dollar each, will be donated to Art 180.

-Caroline Jackson

Sunday was Dane Day at the Ruff House Dog Park

2011-04-13T11:00:00.010-04:00

Listen to the full audio here.

More photos available here!

Photos by John Garcia

On April 10th at  the Ruff House Dog Park twenty-five Great Danes convened for a group photo to commemorate Dane Day at the Park.  The park is located within Rockwood Park at 3201 Courthouse Road in Chesterfield County.  Dane Day at the Park is held every 2nd Sunday of the month with special events like group photo day and rescue group day being held on select Sundays throughout the year. 

The event is open to the public and attendees were encouraged to bring their non-Dane four legged friends.  Regional Great Dane Rescue organizations were also invited to bring information on available Danes in the area.

India Lipton, Dane Day creator/organizer and Ruff House volunteer, said she started the group when she, and Ruff House volunteer Shirley Lesser got their first Great Dane puppy, Charlton.

"We kind of didn't know what we were doing, and we were hoping there were a whole bunch people that could help us out, and teach us how to deal with a Great Dane, because they are a little different, obviously," she said.  "I said well can we get a meet up going, and there wasn't really a big meet up like this, so I created it."

Lipton said it's also about public awareness of the breed.  She said the group gives people an opportunity to see for themselves what Great Danes are like in person and to talk with people who actually have them.

Lesser said Ruff House dog park is a great example of a partnership between a private group and the county and believes it's a very good model for other area parks to follow.

"We have a fair number of young dogs in there today so the energy is a little higher the normal, but that's because puppies are puppies whether they're 120 pounds or 2 pounds," she said.

(above: Miniature Pincher Tori)

She said many people who get this breed of dog as puppies don't always realize the responsibility required with a large dog.

"You hear they are gentle giants, and they absolutely are, but giant is the big word, so they are big dogs, and so what is appropriate for a small dog to do, is not appropriate for a 150 lb dog," she said.

Mike and Trish, owners of Miniature Pincher Tori, said they didn't realize it was Dane Day.  They said generally a wide range of dogs are playing at the park, including one or two Danes, when they come on the weekends.

"I think she thinks she is as big as they are, and usually they are a little bit more intimidated by her energy, then she is of them," she said.  

Mike said Tori doesn't know she is only eight pounds,  and speculated the Danes would probably eat as much as she weighs.

Sue Raynor said she brought her Great Dane Hero out for exercise and both human and canine contact.

"He gets a little timid around smaller dogs because they sort of dart in and out of his legs, they’re not as predictable, but he loves people and dogs equally, he’s very socialized, and any kind of dog he seeks out," she said.

She said he likes to talk and he doesn't like other dogs to fight.  She said he likes to police them, and truly lives up to his name, even though, as his coat indicates, the odds are against him.

"This is a blue merle, the way it's explained to me is that in the mother's womb the harlequin mix gets a little messed up, it’s kind of the muddy part, so this is a breed that is not recognized by the AKC," she said.  "A long time ago they used to eliminate these dogs, now they are becoming more and more acceptable, but at the same time this is not a color that is supposed to be bred because there’s all kinds of issues with it."

Raynor said Hero has stenosis which means his spinal column is too small of for his spinal cord.  She also said blue merle's are susceptible to deafness and blindness.

"That's why he's wobbly, shaky, and that’s a part of being a blue merle," she said. "We’re very lucky it’s a slight case of it, and he does acupuncture and all kinds of things to control it."

(above: Sue Raynor with Hero)

Kimberly Garcia is the owner of two Great Danes. She said her dogs represent two different standard coats, the two year old female named Daisy is fawn, and the eight month old male named Diesel is a mantle.

"It's interesting, where I go, they go, we don't leave them alone, bestest friends in the whole world, they're just couch potatoes,” she said. “Just as good with my kids and everyone else kids, they take care of their owners, just good dogs, all the way around."

She said she is still training and there is a multitude of information available from the various organizations represented at Dane Day.

"I talked to Scotty Hammer with MAGDRL (Mid-Atlantic Great Dane Rescue League)," she said. "There's a lot of other owners here where every time you come you can learn something from them, if you don't know something, there’s a lot of information from them as far as training, obedience, even all the way down to feeding them."

Fourteen year-old Great Dane owner Bryce Lewandoskey said he first got interested in the breed after watching a movie, and that his one year old mantle Marley sleeps for the greater part of the day.

"We found out about Great Danes and were interested in them from of Seven Pounds with Will Smith," he said.

Mary E. Archer, editor-in-chief of richmondpetlovers.com, said she came to Dane Day to gather images and information for the website which features a blog, an event calendar people can submit to, and tries to give twenty-five percent of their profits back to the pet community.

"We also have a directory that lists everything that is pet friendly, or pet businesses, services and organizations in the Richmond area," she said.

Rebecca Rogers, Ruff House Dog Park President said the dog park has been making an effort to reach members of the community via online resources like their website, facebook, twitter, an rss feed, and with email notifications to help keep them informed about what's happening at the park.

"We have more members getting involved, we just had our last workday last week, and we are really improving the park, and making it a better place for dogs and the community," she said.

Ellen Reiser, Webmaster for Ruff House Dog Park said they have created a YouTube channel so people can upload videos of dogs playing at the park, which helps promote the park to local pet-owners and prospective visitors.

"Our events last year were the most successful ever, we finally started raising some money at our fundraisers, which makes a big difference at what we are actually able do in the park," she said.

-Sarah A. Freiseis

The Octopus Project plays The National

2011-04-12T12:08:00.005-04:00

Formed in 1999 in Austin, Texas, The Octopus Project is a team of 4 multi-instrumentalists who spend as much time moving on stage as they do playing. To consider their act just any normal concert is to underscore their unique brand of creative energy and expression. They are currently on tour with fellow Austin musicians Explosions in The Sky.

Josh Lambert, Todo Miranda, Yvonne Lambert, and Ryan Figg were nice enough to sit down with WRIR News at their show at the National.

Photos by John Garcia

Beyond the music, their stage set up is a beautiful black-light collage filled with bright colors and flashing hues. One icon that has been with the band for some time is a large Speaker stack covered in a white sheet and laced with Christmas lights. Todo explains the object.

"That’s David - he, sometimes when the beats aren't loud enough he shouts them so we all can hear."

In older music videos a similar stack, then green, can be seen.

"That was a previous incarnation, David also has another friend named david, who's sometimes with us. He's currently replaced by the neon totem pole. It's there to keep the beats pumping so the whole thing doesn't fall apart "

It was a fun and easy way to make our boring speakers look fun and interesting"

Creating such a stage show was no easy task, and it has been a long undertaking for the band, each tour building on the last. Josh said the larger hued lighting was their most recent addition.

"We sort of worked things up from having no interesting things happen at the shows in the beginning, to things here and there, to video, to finally working on lights. It's always a project, something new each time we go out.

I think we're at medium nuts. as far as stage stuff goes, sometimes it gets super nuts. Right now I'm ok with it, but it has to fit in the van."

The video collages, which project behind the band, are random images, cartoons that kaleidoscope, and sometimes appear to be a loose narrative.

The band, in what could be a tribute to the modern short attention span, jumps between instruments as breakneck speeds. It appears organic, as if the band intuitively knows what to do next, playing off one another. But Josh said the band is well-practiced.

"The shows are way rehearsed, we have things down to a tee. There is some le-way, here and there, especially when things break, which happens a lot. but we just sort of roll with it. Otherwise we are really practiced and know exactly what each person, hopefully, is doing. We're pretty much the perfect band. There's a certain level of chaos that elbows its way into the situation, which keeps it fun, if a little insane."

We know where and when we are supposed to be and when, but the rest falls out in different ways from show to show.

The musical style is fast based and builds heavily on layered beats and arpeggiated chords. This creates a fantastic blend of haunted melodies that allow the band to slip between "indie-post-rock" and "electronic" in styles. Josh said the live performance is structured that way before their sets, but the complex system of samplers and loopers is adaptive.

-----

"Only one loop pedal, but we have a bunch of things we can just hit, when we're supposed to, hopefully, that are triggering loops and samples and stuff like that. I think we all have a little bit of that each in our areas. A lot of the backing beats are pre-programmed. A lot of them are chopped up into segments so we can trigger them on the fly, so if we want a section to go longer, or if we miss something it will go longer and then we can grab the next go-round. So we're still triggering things, we're not playing computer beats with our fingers, but we're hitting samples and loops and playing on top of that."

The album versions of songs are fast paced and energetic, but their live show puts that pace to its breaking point. Todo said theirs is a process to converting a pre-recorded song into a live presentation.

"The songs are usually written pretty independent of how we play them live, so after the song is together then we'll figure out how we can do it and break it up into the smallest piece that still makes sense to play with, make it as controllable as possible until it’s a little bit too much and then back it up a few steps to were the computer can do a few things for us and find the sweet spot."

The Octopus Project released their most recent album, Hexadecagon, last fall. Allmusic.com called the album "as smart as it is joyful" and it is a fair statement. Josh said the band is rarely stationary when it comes to producing new work, and their newest release played on elements of their new elaborate stage show.

"I feel like we're always working on new stuff, but the newest record, in particular, is a different beast. After we were touring about a year and a half ago, we decided to work on some new stuff and we're really excited about doing a surround sound kind of thing with sounds spinning around the room and bouncing back and fourth, something we had never seen anybody do before but might be technically possible. We got home from tour and starting working on the technical aspects of that and then once we figured that out, started writing songs and then we made surround videos that were in in sync with the music, doing this kind of instillation kind of thing."

"We basically pieced together and 8-piece surround sound system and made it work. It was really challenging."

We liked the aesthetic of it, and decided to make it into a record. We put it out in the fall and have been touring solidly since then.

One of their most exciting moments as a band came at last year’s Moogfest. They were invited to open up for 80's electronic super-stars Devo, an honor to say the least. Their dreams were almost dashed when they were told the guitarist Bob Mosthersbaugh has a hand injury and Devo was going to bail on the show. But just as god closed the door, he opened a window, and the band was asked to be Devo's backing band for 1 song.

"We figured out a couple songs driving from Tucson to Asheville where the festival was happening, kind of figured it out in the van and in friends’ living rooms. And then got there, and were like 'how do we play this' on stage for sound check in North Carolina, and the 2 of them walk in and go "ok, you wanna do this one?" and we were screwing around with a bunch of different songs and we ended up playing 2 instead of 1, and got on pretty good with those guys and the show was nuts and fun and we ended up weaseling ourselves on tour with them when they re-scheduled with the healed hand. "

The Octopus project is on tour through the end of April with more dates to be announced.

For Richmond Independent Radio News, i'm Brad Kutner.

Citizens Outraged over Slave Burial Marker Delay

2011-04-05T10:28:00.005-04:00

Listen to the audio version here

Photos By John Garcia

In an act that outraged citizens, Mayor Dwight Jones and Governor Bob McDonnell postponed the planned unveiling of 17 historical markers along Richmond's Slave trail to attend the VCU Final Four game in Houston, Texas this past weekend.

About 75 people gathered to show support for the reclamation of the burial ground, located below a VCU-MCV parking lot at 16th and east broad streets. The struggle to reclaim the burial ground and remove the parking lot from the land, about 10 years in the making, has been a rallying point for black-rights groups in the city.

Lead by Ana Edwards, chair of the Sacred Ground Historical Reclamation project, the event was filled with anger at the city. Citizens were allowed to speak freely at the event.

"City officials including out cowardice black mayor, had to run off to Huston to honor the very organization that disrespected us, our ancestral burial grounds in the first place." said Sister Yafa, a long-time Virginia resident. She, along with other community organizers felt this delay was just another insult in a long series.

"There's no fanfare for by or for black people, decedents of those soldiers or prisoners, nor is there any fanfare for our ancestors held prisoners here under this parking lot."

Yafa's anger was shared by much of those in attendance. Maurice Robinson, a student at J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College, has been a regular figure at city council meetings to speak out in support of reclaiming the land.

"They trying to keep our history hidden by keeping this cement right here hidden." Robinson said.

Born and raised in Richmond, Robinson developed "Slang solution, liberation and New Guidance," an activist group to support black youth, a number of which were in attendance.

April 3rd marked the 146th anniversary of Union troops liberating Richmond from Confederate control. Also known as Richmond Emancipation or Liberation day, the unveiling was scheduled to coincide with the historic event.

"It's a reassertion of the importance of emancipation or liberation day from the confederacy, it was a moment in which to beautifully demonstrate how far we've come in knowledge of Richmond's black history." Edwards said.

But when Edwards learned of the postponement, through an e-mail sent by the city about five days before the scheduled event, she felt burned. The city's e-mail was vague according to Edwards, and did not specify the reason for the delay. It wasn't until a Richmond Times Dispatch article came out last Thursday that the reason for the delay was brought to light.
"Their justification is that it will get more publicity because it won’t compete with the final four. There is something wrong with that." Edwards said.

The unveiling has been rescheduled for this Saturday, April 10th at 3 p.m. Edwards and her group have said they will attend, but instead of participating as originally intended, they will be standing in the back of the crowd.

The unveiling of the markers was the first in several steps by the city and state to reclaim the burial ground. Governor McDonnell proposed an amendment to the budget this past General Assembly session to give $3.3 Million from the state to VCU for the transfer of the land to the city. Protecting and preserving the site will be the task of the city and the Richmond Slave Trail Commission, though cars still park atop the slaves remains as this story airs.

Robinson, toward the end of his speech, stressed his, as well as the rest of the groups, steadfast will to see the burial ground reclaimed.

"This will be solved. We're gonna continue fighting this issue until its solved - together, stand together."

Richmond’s French Film Festival Returns and Spotlights Recent Documentaries

2011-03-25T11:39:00.008-04:00

Listen to the full audio here

The 19^th Annual French Film Festival opened last night at the Byrd Theatre and continues until Sunday. The event attracted 21 thousand people last year and is a joint effort by Virginia Commonwealth University and the University of Richmond. It is a production of the married duo Dr. Peter Kirkpatrick of VCU and Dr. Francoise Ravaux-Kirkpatrick of U of R, who personally select the films from the roughly 170 released from France each year.

Ravaux-Kirkpatrick said that the goal of the festival is to present to Richmond the French community and culture through cinema.

“Every year what we do is we are trying to present to Richmonders and people from Virginia, but also from very far away states a sample, a sampling of last year or this year’s cinematographic productions,” she said.

According to Ravaux-Kirkpatrick, this year’s festival is presenting multiple environmentalist documentaries, because there have been so many that have been released in the past year.

Ravaux-Kirkpatrick said that when she and her husband started the festival, it was very small, but has gotten bigger every year. The festival was initially on campus, but as it grew larger, more and more screenings became necessary.

“Pretty soon, we had to have two or three screenings of the same film and so on,” she said. “And then little by little we came to the Byrd like our fifth year, I think we came to the Byrd, and since then this event has been in the Byrd and it’s grown and grown and grown.”

At last year’s festival, Myriam Guedjahi worked as an intern for college credit, and decided to come back this year because of how much she enjoyed the experience.

“I’m back because last year was for me one of my best experiences as a student, because I learned a lot of things and we want to work in event management, you know like, to organize events,” she said. “I really want to work in this field, so for me that was the best experience ever.”

Guedjahi said that in France, the city of Richmond and the French Film Festival has become well-known, and renowned.

“In France, people know Richmond, thanks to the French Film Festival,” she said. “Because we have a lot of French people who know that, thanks to the students, every year French students are more and more likely to work for the festival.”

Yesterday the festival opened with the documentary “Food Beware, Our Children Will Accuse Us.” In “Food Beware,” director Jean-Paul Jaud deftly illustrates not only the catastrophic results of using pesticides and chemically treating food, but how a small village in France has started eating only organic and local foods.

Nancy Nock, a U of R employee at the Jefferson School for Leadership Studies, has gone to the festival every year since it started. She said she was very impressed with Jaud’s documentary,

and how he presented the issue.

“I think where the director was able to capture this experiment and in this very small village form its inception all the way through to the end of a year or so, and to see how people’s attitudes were changing towards favoring the organic and sustainable way of agriculture and eating, it was amazing,” she said.

Today the festival will showcase more documentaries, including another screening of “Food Beware” at 9:15. Jaud will also present “Severn,” which is about an activist’s campaign to promote biodiversity at 3:30. On Saturday and Sunday, short films and features will be presented, along with “Oceans,” the 2011 Cesar winner for Best Documentary. “Oceans” will be presented on Saturday at 3:00.

According to Nock, documentaries are not common at the French Film Festival, but are a welcome addition.

“Usually, there are more dramatic kinds of films, comedies and dramas, and so forth. Not too many documentaries,” she said. “So I think it’s a really interesting and important departure.”

To Nock and many participants at the French Film Festival, this and other multicultural efforts are becoming more and more important.

“The world is getting smaller, and the more we get to know each other, and know about each other and our cultural perspectives, I think people will find it interesting and learn about each other,” she said.

Nathaniel James Klentzman

Inter-Agency Group Uses Chemical Eating Bugs to Aid in Clean-up at Site in Richmond

2011-03-15T11:00:00.004-04:00

Listen to the full audio here.

Bio Remediation at Defense Supply Center Richmond
(Photo Courtesy of DLA Aviation Public Affairs)

The Defense Supply Center Richmond, located off of Jefferson Davis Highway,
has been undergoing a major clean-up for over two decades. This area has been affected by severe groundwater and soil contamination dating back to the 1940s.

The contamination is due to years of industrial operations and from chemicals used during the time the site served as a firefighting training facility about fifty years ago. The multi-tiered plans for cleaning up are developed by an inter-agency group, lead by the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) in support of the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

At the present time the DSCR houses DLA Aviation. Amy Clement, the Chief of Public Affairs at the site, explained the distinction.

She said, “In general - America’s Combat Support Agency, here in Richmond we are DLA, Defense Logistics Agency Aviation, meaning we are responsible for procurement of the aviation for the Department of Defense.”

Jimmy Parrish from the DLA Installation Support's Environmental Office in Richmond said his branch sees themselves as the landlords of the installation and they aim to keep the site safe and clean for the employees.

“Back in 1960s and 70s we just didn’t know as much as we know now with regards to the impact that certain chemicals or certain things have on the environment,” he said. “Now that we know that, we are able to do more about cleaning it up."

Parrish said in years past they had implemented mechanical clean-up processes that proved to be unpractical and also very expensive.

“You have these situations, and you have the challenges of groundwater contamination, and you have all these technical options you’re pursuing, and in the end round, as good as those options are, it’s just Mother Nature,” he said. “If we stir em’ up a bit, not physically, but just get them excited then mother nature will do her job better than what any machine or technology can do for us here.”

Steven Edlavitch, Environmental Engineer with the DLA, said the technique they are using is called bio remediation. They use native microbes, called in-situ, to help reduce contamination. He said these techniques are popular today and being adjusted to be the most effective considering their specific site conditions.

“The bugs are similar to like the microbes, the paramecium, you might have seen it under a microscope in fourth grade science class, and they’re everywhere, and they are ubiquitous in the environment,” he said. “It’s just that when we provide a food substrate to them, like what we use is edible oil, or soybean oil, they can use that food to create energy and reactions which reduces the contaminant concentration.”

Edlavitch said many Military installations have similar pasts environmental protections regulations were not as strong, which resulted in contamination issues in part by industrial operations.

“So now we are charged with reducing risks and protection of the environment from those sites,” he said.

James Cutler is the Remediation Project Manager in the Federal Facilities Division for the State Department of Environmental Quality. He said his group assists with clean-up for Department of Defense mostly at Army, Navy, and Air Force bases.

“Basically a state version of the EPA, people are familiar with that, protecting the environment, we deal in general with permits, look at the at air, water, and waste,” he said.

He said as a part of the federal facilities frame work he represents Virginia's interest in the process by considering state laws and state resources while complying with general EPA guidelines for a Superfund Site.

“One of the resources that we are protecting in Virginia is groundwater, and protecting it to what we call the maximum beneficial use, which would be drinking water,” he said. “So then our standards in Virginia would go to drinking water standards as a cleanup level, whereas different states may have different classifications for groundwater, Virginia doesn't.”

Cutler said he is also involved with Remediation Advisory Board meetings where he has an opportunity to tell the community what’s going on at the site and what he does.

“I did a presentation at one of the meetings, specifically on what does Virginia do, how does Virginia interact with EPA,” he said. “I think that helped out a lot, when you start talking and then they come up to you afterward.”

Ji-Sun Yi, the Remedial Project Manager in the Hazardous Site Cleanup Division for the Federal Facilities Branch of the EPA said it is their mission to be protective of human health and the environment.

“The National Priorities List is basically, a list of sites that are identified that go through a screening process, based on investigation and assessment of this site, where we see it to meet a criteria, where there is significant contamination, and clean-up needed at the federal level,” she said.

Yi said using bio remediation at the Defense Supply Center Richmond has put the time frame for clean-up at a conservatively estimated twenty years, although research is showing it could be sooner than that.

“Especially over the last five or seven years a lot of progress has been made at DSCR in terms of putting clean-up approaches in place at the site, there were thirteen areas that were identified originally that were of concern that were contaminated,” she said. “And we’re down to addressing two of those thirteen, they are concerned more so with cleaning up the groundwater, because the nature of cleaning up groundwater in general takes longer than it would to clean-up contaminated soil.”

Each of the organizations said the partnership is essential in for an effective clean-up and every component is respected as they have a common goal in mind. All of them also expressed excitement in using more natural techniques.

-Sarah A. Freiseis

Local Activists Sleep in Park in Protest

2011-03-09T11:01:00.009-05:00

Listen to the audio piece here

photos by John Garcia

A group of activists have set up camp in the southwest corner of Monroe Park, complete with sleeping bags, tents, and even a couch, to protest the proposed Park renovations.

The renovation plans, announced by City Councilman Charles Samuels in September, include new lighting and drainage for the park, turning the central Checker’s house into a cafe, installing a play ground, along with other projects totaling about $7.8 million. Proponents of renovation say the park is run down and dangerous; that it's been taken over by the homeless and is in dire need of repair.

A similar “sleep-in” protest was held in the late ‘90s to support the homeless in the park. People slept there for 3 days as a sign of solidarity. Proposed renovation fell by the way side then, though a lack of money, not public out-cry, was blamed for the failure to improve the park.

Herbert Joyner, who has been camping in the park for the last two days, argue the park just needs some minor repairs, and that these renovations are an attempt to gentrify the park by the VCU and the city, to drive out the homeless.

“VCU does not own Richmond, Virginia. They bought up all the property that’s around this park, and Mr. Monroe that’s on the statue right up here, he donated this park for the people. They have been trying to run us off for years and years.”

The park was purchased by the city about 140 years ago. Most of the original park construction, such as the cement path ways and outer walkways, remain unchanged from the original turn of the century design by . The last renovations to the park were completed about five years ago and consisted of renovating the central fountain.

LeLonnie Colmes, another protestor, took issue with the renovation forcing the park closed for nine to 18 months, as estimated by Samuels, leaving the homeless who stay there with no place to go and disrupting feeding groups, like Food Not Bombs.

“This is the only place that they really have to congregate during the day. Without this, like, there’s not any place for churches or Food Not Bombs or anything like that to do feedings, anything like that, or even just for them to hang out in a place that’s not stuck in front of the direct public at all times …”

The protest has also attracted a number of VCU students, like Nicholas, a sophomore who asked that his last name not be used for fear of losing his scholarship.

“I don’t want to see the homeless people get kicked out of this park. Because when they get kicked out of the park, with the large fence they plan on building, they’re gonna go into the VCU area, they’re going to go into the business district, the Fan, wherever, and then they’re gonna get arrested, and they’re gonna go to the city jail.

According to Colmes, the protesters will continue to camp out in the park for as long as they can.

‘The longer we’re here, the more … people are going to hear about it, and the more they’re going to have to take sides, and actually evaluate their views on what’s going on and take a side, and figure out what this actually means to them and raise their awareness about it, and show them we’re actually serious, we’re not just a bunch of dirty punk kids hanging out on a couch in Monroe Park.”

The city has yet to finalize the Monroe Park Master Plan, which would guide renovation. Samuels has said keeping the park open during renovation would multiply, not just increase costs of renovation. Funding has also been an issue for the renovation plan. Samuels told RVANews the city would cover about $3 million of the plan for underground pipe-work, but the rest of the estimated $7.8 million will have to come from private donors.

Yes Virginia, Richmond Does Have Warehouse Parties

2011-03-05T15:03:00.008-05:00

Friday night, March 4th 2011, World of Source put on a party in Southside, RVA, just over the river. Below are some videos of some of the acts. There is more to come.

Richmond Creates Stormwater Fee Credits for Residential Citizen

2011-03-04T10:08:00.006-05:00

Beginning this year, the City of Richmond will make stormwater fee credits available to residential citizens after limiting it to commercial property owners in 2010. The fees, which go toward cleaning up the James River and local streams and creeks, amount to about $8 million and are reserved exclusively for treating stormwater issues.

Chris Beschler, Deputy Chief Administrative Officer for Richmond Department of Public Utilities, said the credits are easy to obtain.

“You have to either reduce the quantity of run off from your property, and, if you do things that will reduce the quantity, then you can get a credit, if you do something to reduce the quality of the run off, that gets you a credit as well.”

Reducing quantity and quality are both easily achieved at a fairly low cost. Rain barrels, cisterns, rain gardens, vegetation strips, or any steps made to reduce impervious surfaces, or surfaces that don’t allow easy water absorption, are a few of the ways to gain the credit.

The stormwater fees, collected twice a year from property owners, are part of a federally mandated program to help clean up the Chesapeake Bay. Ravaged by high nutrient and sediment pollution from agriculture, city streets and residential homes, the Bay’s ecosystem must be maintained according to the Environmental Protection Agency and the Clean Water Act of 1972. Original deadlines for Bay clean up have been all but ignored since the Act’s passing, but stormwater fees are part of a growing aggressive approach to the problem.

Beschler said the pollution targeted by stormwater fees is often misunderstood by the public. “When we think of pollution,” Beschler said, “it conjures up images of tires and cans and bottles floating in the bay, but the kind of pollution we're talking about is nutrient pollution, soil and sedimentation.”

Fees are distributed based on total area of impermeable surfaces on a property. Examples of those surfaces include concrete, compacted gravel driveways and rooftops.

Around $9 million is expected to flow into the city from both residential and non-residential fees, which the city began collecting last year. DPU expects to pay out about $1 million in credits, leaving $8 million to be used on specific projects in the city.

Beschler described the city-funded stormwater projects in three groups. The first handles cleaning water catch basins, mosquito control projects and basic infrastructure maintenance. The second covers federal compliance issues, including installing new water retention basins. The last group deals with the city replacing or installing infrastructure when and where it is needed.

After filling out the credit application and taking a picture of the efforts a citizen has made, hydraulic engineers, employed by the city, will inspect properties. The credit lasts for three years, and the city has the right to inspect the property at any time during the term to make sure property owners are in compliance.

But Beschler said some citizens have already taken steps to be eco-friendly. One such eco-warrior is Charlie Field, a civil engineer living in Richmond’s Church Hill neighborhood.

Field installed an underground cistern that collects rainwater from his roof, as well as his neighbor’s. The water flows into a containment tank below 2 lots behind his house. He uses the stored water support his urban garden.

“If you want grow a garden on a vacant lot, you can either put in a cistern [for] $1,500 to $2,000.” Field said. “Or pay the city $5,000 and plumbers another $4,000. So it was just economic. If I want a garden, I need water.”

While Field's story might be a bit extreme he said he was glad to be doing his part to help the environment.

“Every gallon we keep out of the storm system, is a gallon we don't have to store or treat, and all of that is taxpayer money. So it makes good sense to keep every drop.”

Field didn’t take great issue with the fee, which doesn’t amount to much--between $2 and $6 a month depending on property size--but Field saw its importance nonetheless.

“It takes money to run a city, and there are plenty of parts of this city where the culverts are 100-years-old and caved in and filled with mud. Somebody's got to maintain them. And also, the river is a real asset. And when you are potentially going to die when you go in it, it makes it less of an asset, you know?”

Some citizens have not been as accepting of the fees. Past city council meetings have shown some non-residential fees in the thousands, as was the case with Branch's Baptist Church in Richmond's Southside, which received a bill for over $6,000 last Fall according to the Times-Dispatch. City Council President Kathy Graziano said it was a realistic problem that needed to be addressed. Graziano spoke at a south side public meeting to discuss the stormwater fees and credits program.

“First of all we have all these federal mandates that we have to clean up the water, second of all… we were funding the stormwater out of our general fund, which was totally inadequate to address the problems we have, so for years we hadn't done it. Whether we have federal mandates or not we have not addressed this stormwater management problems in the city and we need to do it.”

Making the public aware of the credits has been a large part of DPU and the city’s efforts since the implementation of the program. Flyers, city council meetings and newsletters have been part of the approach. Graziano admits the fees are low for residential properties, but if more citizens acted on the credits, it could make a big difference.

“It’s not even the money; it’s if you contain that water it makes less run off in the creeks and in the river and it makes cleaner creeks and cleaner rivers.”

A lot of federal pressure came from lawsuits by environmental groups against Virginia and other Bay state’s neglect of the Clean Water Act. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation has been one of the most vocal advocates for the Bay and its upkeep. CBF Scientist Mike Gerel said he was glad to see Richmond take the steps it has.

“It gives credit for good things they're doing on their property and they don't have to pay the fee. It gets action out there on individual sites rather than giving the money to the city were they have to do anything.”

Gerel said the positive outcome would be a great step in the direction of not only a cleaner Bay, but also a cleaner Richmond.

“It’s not only going to benefit your downtown areas; your big problems where there is flooding in the city. It'll benefit your neighborhood by having those credits go right into your yard.”

Applications for credits, specific details of credit earning actions and restrictions to the program are available on the Richmond DPU website. Applications are accepted throughout the year. Only property owners are allowed to apply for the program, though renters are encouraged to speak with their landlord about the steps they can take.

The Fourth Annual Virginia Film Festival for the Byrd.

2011-02-25T11:02:00.011-05:00

Pictures courtesy of VA Film Office

Hear the audio version of this story here

For the fourth straight year, the Byrd Theatre in Richmond is hosting the Virginia Indie Film Festival on Saturday and Sunday. The Festival, produced by the Virginia Film Office and the Virginia Production Alliance, will once again feature independent documentaries, short film, and features from filmmakers across Virginia.

Kathryn Stephens is the Industry Relations Manager at the Virginia Film Office, and alongside managing the Indie Film Festival, works with independent filmmakers to find locations and resources to show their films.

“It’s a great opportunity for Virginia filmmakers to showcase their work, allow other industry professionals to see who else in the state is making excellent film products, and it’s a great way to support the arts.”

According to Stephens, the Indie Film Festival is one of the few festivals in Virginia that shows shorts, documentaries, and feature films. The film festival is also open to a specific group of people.

“The Virginia Indie Film Festival is open only to Virginia filmmakers, so the most important qualifying rule is that they have to live in Virginia to submit their film. This year was the first year we allowed filmmakers who shot their films outside Virginia to submit work, but mostly we did this to sort of widen the pool of talent and talented films to be shown at the Byrd.”

The Byrd, Richmond’s historic theater located in the heart of Carytown, has played host to the Indie Film Festival since the beginning, and for specific reasons.

“It’s just gorgeous. It’s a gorgeous venue, and they’ve been very supportive of the independent film-making community. They allow filmmakers to screen their films there and they give them excellent rates, so we want to support the Byrd. They’ve been great to us, and it’s also just a fantastic historical venue to screen films in.”

This year’s films Span a wide-range and are full of topics and stories. The documentaries and shorts will be shown on Saturday.

One such documentary, “Beardo the Movie, covers the 2009 World Beard and Moustache Championships. IT’S being shown alongside A Gift for the Village, about a cultural connection between the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Himalayas.

Shorts being shown include Caution Wet Floor, about corporate executives caught in a dangerous situation and RE: MESSIAH, which shows what happens when technology gains sentience, and love.

Robert Mark is the director of the short film Relax, which is a movie about relaxing sights and sounds meant to soothe the audience.

“It’s a small sample from a much bigger project that I’m working on, and as the name Relax implies, this film contains beautiful relaxing images and nat sounds to reduce stress.”

Mark, a Virginia Commonwealth University graduate and long-time Richmond citizen, is at the Indie Film Festival for a second time. His first entry was about VCU’s excavation of historic Curles Neck Farm, and the artifacts that were uncovered there, some dating as far back as the 1600s. Before making his own films, Mark spent some time in the television industry filming shows. When filming the archaeology film, Mark did not think it would go far.

“My personal history is that I worked in broadcast TV for over 20 years and most of the stuff I worked on in the past is news magazine programs and documentary-oriented programming, and the archaeology part was right up my alley. So I thought ‘Well, maybe I’ll put this out there and see if there’s any interest in it.’ And to my surprise the film festival liked it and put it in the finals.

Mark says that festivals like the Virginia Indie Film Festival are great for the city of Richmond because it showcases the city’s unique cultural status.

“I think it’s great that they do these types of festivals because it promotes filmmaking in general and it’s either low-cost or no-cost to enter these festivals, and I think it brings a lot of awareness to the region that it’s a creative hub. And Richmond has always been like that in terms of musicians, and artists, and filmmakers, it’s a very rich region for its size.”

Three feature films will be shown on Sunday, and include Quick Feet, Soft Hands, about a minor league baseball player trying to make it big, and Tracks, about a man reflecting on his troubled childhood in Baltimore.

Brian Wimer’s film, Danger. Zombies. Run., is one of the three feature films being shown on Sunday. In his movie, zombies attack a crew while filming a zombie movie.

“The movie is about a bunch of indie filmmakers who are making a zombie movie and they intermittently get attacked by real zombies, so it’s essentially my notion being an independent filmmaker of, I don’t know, reality intruding upon all of our notions of what zombies really are about and why zombies chase us.”

Calling his movie a “philosophical zombie comedy,” Wimer wanted to discover just why we’re so fascinated by zombies and why most zombie movies follow a similar formula.

“You can do something that’s really dumb that’s a zombie movie. But why do that? Why not, I went to an Ivy League school, I’ve got a brain, why not put in notions? So it’s to investigate what is it about zombie movies. Like, if I said I’m making a zombie movie, whoever’s in the room jumps up and down saying ‘Can we see it?’ If I said I’ve got a coming-of-age drama, you know, you’ll hear crickets, so what is it about zombie movies that make people crazy? And why here? I don’t know, Japan had Godzilla movies for a while and there was a reason why. It was because of Hiroshima, and we have zombie movies, and we’re plagues by zombies, why is that? I think there actually are philosophical, psychological ramifications to why we find ourselves to be persued.”

While the names involved in these small low-budget films aren’t recognizable now, Stephens has no doubt that some of them will end up becoming great success stories.

“I think it’s a lot of really talented film-makers who, although they’re not known now, maybe in 10 years they could be. So I think it might be one of those things that maybe, 10 years from now you’re sitting at a theater, watching a film and you realize ‘Oh I saw that guy’s film at the Indie Film Fest all those years ago. I totally connected that now!”

For more information on the individual screenings you can visit the Virginia Film Office’s website at http://www.film.virginia.org/.

Screenings for documentaries and shorts will be on Saturday 1 to 6 p.m., and features will be presented on Sunday from 4:30 to 8:30 p.m.

/James Klentzman.

Busy Weekend for Local Fire Departments

2011-02-23T16:31:00.002-05:00

Listen to the full story here

Fires that scorched through more than 4,000 acres of land in Virginia over the weekend were finally contained Monday. The fires occurred in several counties including New Kent, Caroline and Henrico and spanned several days. The more than 150 brush fires tore through more than 4,000 acres of private land in the counties and it is estimated that they damaged nearly 50 buildings.

The brush fires were so large and great in quantity that residents in Richmond could both smell and see smoke in the air.

Fire crews from New Kent and Caroline counties were joined by the Henrico fire department to help contain the blaze. New Kent county fire chief Tommy Hicks says that an initial fire in New Kent county quickly spread to other areas.

"In New Kent county, the damage for this particular incident equated to about 70 acres. The challenge that we face were all the wind conditions and movement of the fire, but it actually hit 4 geographic areas around the Bottoms Bridge area of interstate 64."

Hicks says that the fire was able to build for some time in the intial New Kent blaze before it spread to other counties.

"Unfortunately, the call that occurred in New Kent on that Saturday afternoon resulted from a tree falling across power lines deep in a forested area, which allowed the fire to get some momentum and forward progress prior to the arrival of someone initiating a 9-1-1 emergency response."

While brush fires are not all uncommon for the area this time of year, dry conditions and high winds over the weekend cause the blaze to spread faster than usual. The magnitude and span of the blaze make it the second worst brush fire in 50 years in Virginia, just behind a blaze that occurred in February 2008. Dan Goff, who studies geography and meteorology at Virginia Tech, says that Virginia's dryer than normal conditions have made it a particularly tough time of year.

"Conditions since the beginning of the year have been unseasonably dry, we've been running a rainfall deficit since January 1st and having the combination of very, very dry soil and very, very dry fuel, we've had lots of dead leaves on the ground, lots of dead vegetation from the fall. So that's all had a chance to dry out and make it very easy to burn."

Due to the conditions during this time of year, Virginia has had a burn-ban implemented since the 1940's, that prohibits the burning of brush or debris before 4 p.m. when it is said wind conditions have calmed and humidity has risen.

Richmond Fire Chief Shawn Jones said that due to the fires we've seen this year, it's recommended that burning not take place at all. He says that burning anything in the City of Richmond is not allowed, unless a permit has been given. However, certain types of fires are allowed in certain circumstances.

"Grills, of course, those individuals who might have some type of decorative device outside where they can go sit outside at night time when it's cool, if you have some type of decorative device going on, but certainly you're not allowed to burn any trash, any leaves or anything of that nature, so that's what the burn ban is for."

The burn ban is in effect through April.

-Brad Fulton

This Weekend Anderson Cooper Speaks Thanks to The Richmond Forum

2011-02-16T11:01:00.007-05:00

Listen to the full audio here.

Images Courtesy of The Richmond Forum

On Saturday evening, The Richmond Forum will host Anderson Cooper at the Landmark Theater. The Award-winning anchor of CNN's Anderson Cooper 360° will present "A 360-Degree Look at World Events" to Richmond Forum subscribers.

And The Richmond Forum recently announced a second presentation of the program because of overwhelming interest. On Sunday, Cooper will speak at 2:00 P.M. at the Landmark Theatre and that show is open to the general public.

Bill Chapman, Executive Director of The Richmond Forum, said the event will mark the first ever matinee showing in the twenty-five years of the organization.

“We still have tickets available for that program, and it could not be more timely, he was right in the thick of things in Egypt, and of course those headlines are developing daily.”

He said the additional matinee presentation will give The Richmond Forum an opportunity to introduce themselves to people who haven’t yet had a chance to attend a program.

“When we looked at our 25th season, and when Comcast approached us, who has been a long time supporter and wanted to something special for the season, we zeroed in very quickly on the Anderson Cooper program as being one that would be a real opportunity to appeal to a lot of different people in Richmond and introduce them to The Forum,” he said.

Chapman said the organization brings some of the biggest names in the world to Richmond as a part of its subscription series.

"Probably the best way to explain is just to name some the speakers that have been to The Forum over the past 25 years, world leaders like former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto came to The Richmond Forum, Tony Blair was here a couple years ago, Mary Robinson from Ireland, Benjamin Netanyahu came to The Richmond Forum, domestically we’ve had just about every former U.S. Secretary of State in recent history, from Madeleine Albright, James Baker, and Colin Powell has been to The Forum twice, Condoleeza Rice was here last year, and we have leaders from the arts and entertainment fields as well, Michael Douglas, Robert Redford," he said. "It’s the who’s who, pretty much anyone you can think of has stepped on to our stage in the last 25 years."

He said it is an opportunity for people to experience the guest speakers both literally and figuratively in three dimensions.

“You can not really see the humanity of these people until you see them in person, even if you’re in the back row of the Landmark Theater, there’s still some power of being in the same room with these people,” he said. “Condoleeza Rice was a fascinating speaker last year, and one thing that she did for The Richmond Forum, very special for us, that she didn’t do at any another speaking engagements around the country, is she played the piano, and we got her to agree, she’s a trained pianist, to do a piece for us.”

Chapman said their subscribers represent a cross section of the Richmond community and have varied interests. He said they are entitled to have a seat for all five of The Richmond Forum’s yearly presentations. Being a subscriber is the only way to secure entry to these events.

“Sheerly by the size, 3,600 seats in the Landmark Theater, actually makes that the largest venue in the nation for a speaker series of this type. Which really shows the appeal and the following we have in the Richmond community," he said. "Most speaker series like this across the country are number one, they are affiliated with a university, whereas we are an independent nonprofit organization, most of the series around the country are in significantly smaller theaters, 1,800-2,200 seats, and we are at a 3,600 seat theater, and we fill it for every single program."

The Richmond Forum has a unique process for selecting speakers according to Chapman. He said the process supplies them with many more names to choose from, including some the organization wouldn't have come up with on their own.

“And we do just a blank sheet of paper, tell us who you would love to see come to The Richmond Forum, some other series around the country will give their subscribers a list of eight or a dozen speakers and ask them to vote on which ones they would like to see," he said.

Chapman said the reputation of The Richmond Forum is nationwide and to some degree international. He said this helps them bring in the heavy hitters.

"I’ve only been in my role with The Richmond Forum for the last three years so I can’t take a whole lot of credit for it, but I can tell you that when we extend an invitation to a high profile speaker, nine times out of ten they’ve heard about The Richmond Forum," he said. "They know that this is one of the top series in the nation, and one of the most prestigious series in the nation, and that really helps us to be able to bring some of these speakers to Richmond, they also know to bring their A-game."

An evening with The Richmond Forum kicks off with a reception for corporate patrons and guests, followed by a 300-400 person dinner before the main event.

“The program in the theatre begins with a 45 to 50 minute speech by the speaker, then we take a 15 minute intermission and we collect written questions from the audience,” he said. “Those questions are run 90 miles an hour backstage where they are sorted by a team of volunteers, the speaker is never involved in the selection of the questions, and then after intermission our moderator, who is usually someone from our community poses the audiences questions to the speaker.”

Chapman said the question and answer portion of the program presents yet another opportunity for interaction. He said the attendees are able to see the speaker think on their feet and respond to questions directly from the Richmond audience.

The Richmond Forum has two more speakers coming up this year. In March, Dr. George Church will present “The Personal Genomics Revolution” and in April, David Blaine will present “Does the Human Body have Limits?”

Chapman said this season’s finale show is expected to be slightly different than the rest. And that’s the goal, to provide subscribers, and Richmond, with something provocative.

He said, “one of the ways that we evaluate the success of our program is if our subscribers are leaving with something that they are continuing to talk about.”

- Sarah Freiseis

Mayor Dwight C. Jones' State of the City Address

2011-02-14T12:13:00.009-05:00

On February 4, Mayor Dwight C. Jones gave his State of the City address at the historic Hippodrome Theatre in Jackson Ward. City council and school board members, public leaders and citizens filled the hall to listen to Mayor Jones’ assessment of the last year and vision for the next. If you missed his annual speech, hear our mayor’s vision for the City of Richmond here.

Energy Companies Push for Lift of 30 Year Ban on Uranium Mining

2011-02-09T12:54:00.004-05:00

Listen to the full story here.

Energy companies met strong opposition Monday to lifting a ban on uranium mining in Virginia. Both supporters and those opposing lifting the 30 year old ban met in Richmond and shared their views in a public comment period to support a National Academy of Sciences study.

The 30 month long study concerns the effects of uranium mining in the south Virginia town of Danville. The NAS is just over the halfway mark in their work.

Paul Locke, chair of the committee, says the goal of the study is to inform the General Assembly and the public of the positives and negatives of future uranium mining. The specifics of the report are laid out in a 12 point list covering everything from trends in the uranium trade, to the safety of ground water.

“As a committee our biggest task right now is to gather info about all 12 of these items and start to think about them and how we can answer the questions that are raised by our statement of task, so that we can prepare a good report.”

A ban on uranium mining in Virginia was put in to place in 1982 after concerns over mining the same Pittsylvania county deposit lead to controversy and environmental worries. Concerns are similar today.

Trieste Lockwood, Director of Virginia Interfaith Power and Light said the areas wet climate could lead to local contamination.

“There's never been a mining project like this allowed east of the Mississippi River, because of the health hazards and environmental hazards and it just has a very high population and wet climate, which is what makes it a threat and which is why it's not usually done over here anyway.”

Lockwood also cites economic concerns to local businesses from uranium mining in an agriculturally rich area.

“We're more concerned about the loss of agricultural businesses, there's a lot of - agriculture is the foundation of our economy in Virginia. There's a lot of farms, wineries, businesses around that area, that would be at risk to have their water and product polluted from uranium toxic tailings and waste.”

Patrick Wales, who is the project manager for Virginia Uranium, Inc., one company who stands to profit from the mining, cite the operation as a $10 billion economic opportunity.

“We're looking at about 330 direct jobs, average annual wage of about $65,000 a year. You put that in perspective with a community that has about 15 percent unemployment and an average annual wage down in our part of Virginia is about $28,000 a year and it's a significant impact economically.”

However, one resident of Pittsylvania county, Allen Gross, whose water was tested before and during test drilling, says he is already seeing ill-environmental effects from the mining.

“When they got done with their samples I couldn't read any parts per billion or anything like that, so I sent it to a water analyst and he told me I shouldn't have been drinking my water because it had been contaminated with lead – and lead is a byproduct of uranium.”

Patrick Moore, one of the co-founders of Greenpeace, and current Chief Scientist for Greenspirit Strategies in Vancouver, says that such cases will be avoided if current standards for uranium mines are followed.

“If the mine is designed and operated properly according to international standards which are well known, there should be no serious damage to the environment and the ecological restoration of the site afterward should return it to a healthy ecosystem that can grow trees or crops or whatever.”

The study on uranium mining in the region is being conducted by the National Academy of Sciences, an independent, non-profit research society – and is being sponsored by Virginia Tech. The study will compare currently known information about the effects of uranium mining to new research being done in the region.

Locke says that once the study is complete, it will face a blind review before being given to the Virginia General Assembly, who have the final say in lifting the ban.

“The legislators can do what they want, always. And in fact, as I mentioned earlier, they will be getting input from different sources, they have our report they have 3 other reports and as you saw from our public hearing, the citizens are very actively involved and I'm sure they will be talking to the legislators, too.”

The study was approved in 2008 when the Virginia Commission on Coal and Energy voted to take on the $1.4 million endeavor.

The final report is to be completed by December of this year with Virginia Uranium, Inc. hoping to get the mining ban lifted by next year's assembly.

For Richmond Independent Radio News, I'm Brad Fulton. Cbeck out our blog at wrirnews.blogspot.com for this and other stories.

-Brad Fulton

Today's Local Headlines!

2011-02-04T09:40:00.004-05:00

Listen to the audio version here.

Mayor Dwight C. Jones delivered his State of the City address last night to a packed crowd at the historic Hippodrome Theatre in Jackson Ward.

Renovation of the theatre, where jazz great Duke Ellington and Ella Fitzgerald appeared, is one of the achievements he touted in his speech along the Richmond having a police department in the top ten percent nationwide and the opening of two new elementary schools, the first time that has happened in 40 years. But Mayor Jones didn't just look back, he has big plans for Richmond to come into it's own, he said the city has yet to see it's renaissance.

He wants a new baseball stadium on the Boulevard, a new coliseum in Jackson Ward and he said he is paving the way towards high speed rail that would connect Richmonders to Washington D.C. To see full coverage of the State of the City address and what city officials think of Mayor Jones' plans for Richmond, tune in to WRIR next week.

A secretly tapped video at a Richmond Planned Parenthood has the pro-life crowd concerned. The video, recorded and released by Live Action, a national pro-life group, shows a fake pimp and fake underaged prostitute attempting to receive medical advice concerning getting an abortion without parental consent and other treatments. Richmond Planned Parenthood told NBC 12 their employee followed protocol, including contacting local police and the FBI. The unedited version of the video appeared to show a concerned and caring individual trying to get help for an at risk youth, Live action said they did not try and help the fake underaged prostitute and were trying to cover it up. The FBI was questioned by NBC and they said they were still looking into the case. Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli had a similar response, he said his office was still in fact finding mode.

Early Census numbers have been released for the Richmond Area. 2000 to 2010 is the first population increase for the city since the 1970. The total number of current Richmond residents is just over 200,000 up from 197,000 in 2000's census. Chesterfield and Henrico also saw jumps in there populations over the last 10 years.

The Pocahontas 895 Toll increases to 3 dollars on Monday. The road is often used as a short cut to the Airport, the 330 million dollar project gets no state or federal funding and is relying on tolls to be paid off. Only about 15 hundred cars use the road each day.

Two .22 caliber rifle bullets were found inside Colonial Heights Middle School just after 9 am yesterday. A student found the ammo and informed an administrator. The school was put into lockdown for two hours, but returned to business as usually after no gun or other weapons were found. Investigators have found the student they believe responsible and he could face criminal charges as well as suspension or expulsion from the school. Parents of students were informed of the incident via a letter sent home with students.

-Caroline Jackson and Brad Kutner

Reminder: If you have something you want to see us cover, send a news tip to news@wrir.org.

Pro-Choice Groups Hit the Capitol and Demand Legislators Attention

2011-01-28T10:29:00.013-05:00

Listen to the full audio here.

Two weeks ago pro-life advocates held their Rally for Life at the Bell Tower downtown. Yesterday morning, about 50 representatives from pro-choice groups set off on their annual Lobby Day and met back up a couple blocks from the Rally for Life site. They chanted their own message on E. Broad and 9th St. outside of the General Assembly offices.

A lone counter-protestor met them at their rally, holding a video camera and a handful of fliers. He had one main question for them "Are you absolutely sure it's your body?" but he also wanted to know "Why would you want to kill a baby?"

Jessd Williams isn't part of a pro-life organization. He has attended the Lobby Day Rally the last three years as a counter-protestor but this is the only time he steps out publicly for the pro-life cause. Williams said he is there to change the minds of pro-choicers he calls "willfully ignorant".

"You can be informed that this is a uniquely different DNA, different blood type but yet not see that it's a uniquely different life, different than the mother's life in which case they see no problem with abortion and killing that," Williams said.

Some rally participants wandered over to Williams to debate his points as police stood watching nearby. But most like Anna Halbrooks-Fulks chose non-confrontation. She founded the Voices for Planned Parenthood group on the University of Mary Washington campus and organized a campaign to raise awareness about Crisis Pregnancy Centers at her school. Halbrooks-Fulks explained why she made the trek to the Capitol.

"I'm here because autonomy is a very important issue to me,” she said. “I think that women should be able to make their own personal decisions about their families, the size of their families, about their bodies, about their health and I don't think that's something the government has any role in regulating."

Halbrooks-Fulks led a workshop on student activism earlier in the day and met with her legislator Democrat Senator Ed Houck of the 17th District who is the chairman of the Senate Education and Health Committee.

"He's a champion of this issue even though it's sometimes hard for him in his district and we went by and let him know there's a loud, proud group of pro-choice advocates in his district that really appreciate everything that he does," Halbrooks-Fulks said.

Joseph Richards helped to arrange some of those meetings with legislators. He is the Program and Communications at NARAL Pro-Choice Virginia, a group working to protect safe, legal abortion and access to reproductive healthcare. He described Lobby Day as a sort of show of force by pro-choicers.

"I think one thing that it does is it reminds people and holds legislators accountable for the laws they are passing and let's them know the laws they are passing are affecting real people and affects real access to necessary reproductive healthcare in Virginia and we will not tolerate laws that restrict access."

And Courtney Jones, manager of grassroots organizing at Planned Parenthood, said the morning started with a success. A sex education bill pro-choice groups support passed the Senate committee with an 11-4 vote. Jones said Lobby Day was a chance to meet with legislators who are not pro-choice to inform them of their views and with pro-choice friendly legislators to:

"Reiterate our message that we're here when they take goals, or votes, that their not comfortable with or they're getting pressure from the other side so I feel like it went really well this morning," Jones said.

But there are a few bills floating in the General Assembly that worry pro-choice groups. These bills could defund Planned Parenthood, re-defining personhood to begin at conception and increase regulations on abortion clinics. The day ended with a lunch where participants decompressed and strategized.

Meghan Smith, Domestic Program Associate at Catholics for Choice addressed the group at a Methodist church walking distance from the rally. Catholics for Choice is in conversation with representatives in the United States' Congress, explaining why they should vote pro-choice. She talked about the bigger picture, beyond the General Assembly and Virginia.

Smith said one of the problems groups like Catholics for Choice ran into with abortion legislation on the federal level, when abortion was stripped from the healthcare bill, was counting on legislators who generally vote pro-choice. She said if those legislators aren't engaged, they often don't vote for things they might have.

"Get your family, get your friends, get anybody. Call and talk to, do district visits, days like this are really important because there's going to be a lot of education that needs to happen and the senate is not necessarily going to save us,” Smith said. “Even the folks who are very anti-choice and very conservative either socially or politically, they listen to their constituents."

And she said momentum for small bills that infringe on abortion rights often begin at the state level and then start popping up at the federal level.

"So if we can figure out a way to kind of pull back from that maybe we can do some good and I think the state levels going to be really important, for folks to get involved when those things happen because that's the only place we have to fix them," Smith said.

And Lobby Day participants were engaging with their legislators yesterday but their opposition is fierce and the bills pro-choice advocates are worried about have yet to die out in the General Assembly.

-Caroline Jackson

This Week's Headlines!

2011-01-26T12:43:00.001-05:00

Listen to the full audio here.

Prominent Richmond developer Justin French pled guilty to two felony counts of wire fraud and unlawful monetary transactions on Monday in U.S. District Court. His sentencing is set for May 3rd where he could face 30 years in prison, restitution and as much as 500,000 dollars in fines, according to Style Weekly. The counts stemmed from French using state and federal historic tax credits on development deals. He overestimated repair costs, received credits and then sold them to investment partners. According to his plea deal, he developed 20 properties with credits and had 16 more planned. U.S. Attorney of the Eastern District of Virginia Neil H. MacBride told reporters outside the courthouse on Monday an investigation into French’s scheme continues.

Richmonders can expect rain to continue until 4pm today with sleet entering into the mix later this evening. There is a 90 percent chance of snow tonight and the weather service is expecting one inch to accumulate. The snowy situation doesn’t have much chance of sticking around when highs will creep into the forties Thursday and Friday and Saturday is expected to be sunny and reach 52 degrees.

A Virginia legislator has proposed castrating sex offenders after they get out of prison to avoid the increasing costs of treating them. Republican Senator Emmett Hanger’s bill includes a study of who qualifies for the procedure and proposes to study the use of physical castration as an alternative to civil commitment for sexually violent criminals. According to WRIC Channel 8 News, a similar proposal was vetoed four years ago.

Richmond City Council approved a real estate tax amnesty program on Monday. The plan provides an incentive for property owners behind on their real-estate taxes to get right with the city. It waives delinquent fees if taxes are paid in full between February 15th and April 15th. His plan also includes a zero percent interest rate for late payments in 2011 which he said aims to help Richmond residents recovering from the weak economy and allows them to get used to the bill payment cycles which recently changed to twice a year. According to the Richmond Times Dispatch, the city is hoping to entice at least 3.1 million from property owners through Mayor Dwight C. Jones’ program.

Local gallery Art Works presents its first exhibit of Artistic Realization Technology or A.R.T. this Friday at 7pm. A.R.T. was developed in 1995 with a grant from artist Roy Lichtenstein to allow individuals without mobility in their hands or feet or without speech to use technology like laser pointers to instruct trained assistants to create photos, sculptures and paintings by their design. Art Works has collaborate with Easter Seals USP and artist Tim Lefen to create a permanent hub for A.R.T., where disabled artists and their assistants can come to create. This Friday marks the first in an ongoing series.

-Caroline Jackson

Pro Life Issues Gain Traction on the Capitol

2011-01-21T09:46:00.005-05:00

Listen to the full audio here.

Yesterday, a House of Delegates committee endorsed House Bill 1428 to toughen regulations on abortion clinics. Representatives from Planned Parenthood said 17 out of 21 abortion providers will close if this bill is approved by the General Assembly but it still has to survive the House and move on to the Democrat-held Senate.

Pro-life activists held a rally last Thursday in hopes of pushing Virginia leaders to pass this restriction and others like it.

Delegate Bob Marshall (R-13th District) and his wife

The emcee Reverend Dean Nelson of the Fredrick Douglas Foundation, a public policy and educational organization, and the Virginia Christian Alliance asked rally participants to call on God and to call on governmental leaders.

"To do what they are called to do under God particularly for the unborn, can I get an amen?" Dead said. "Listen, the first role of the government is to protect those who are among us, the citizens, and we need to have protection particularly for those who are most vulnerable in our society."

Republican delegate Bob Marshall of Virginia's 13th District opened and closed the event. He has been active in pushing for legislation like House Bill 1428 for 16 years but this year he wrote a different bill. This one, House Bill 1440, would redefined unborn children as persons under Virginia law.

Marshall did not shy away from saying he hopes to chip away at Roe v. Wade by redefining personhood and restricting abortion. He and others at the rally likened themselves to leaders in the Civil Rights movement. Marshall called on the crowd to stay strong in the fight toward making abortion illegal.

"There were more injustices than sitting on a bus but they started there and they held firm and they didn't budge and they eventually won and turned the conscience of this country around," Marshall said. "We have to hold firm today and assert that there is a person in the womb, that there can be a wrongful death suit taken and this is the march back because if we affirm this principle in one area before birth we can like those that sat in Birmingham on the buses, we can affirm it elsewhere and we will do that. "

Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli was scheduled to speak at the rally but later cancelled. He backpedaled after issuing an advisory opinion where he said Governor McDonnell could side step the legislative process and simply enact more regulations on abortion providers. McDonnell has said the proposed regulations need to go through the normal legislative process.

"The laws on the books allow us to do this and the attorney general said yes it does," Marshall said. "And when you look at the statutes of Virginia the commisioner is charged with ensuring patient safety he also is in charge of issuing regulations when the board is not in session. Bob McDonnell could tell him today to issue these regulations, Bob McDonnell has not done that."

Marshall said the General Assembly is a dead end. He said regulations not passing has more to do with the Senate's Education and Health committee, where all abortion bills are heard, than support. He said the committee has been stocked with pro-choicers.

"There's no other way to explain this. They have done it for years and the Democrats have followed suit. They want to bury these issues," Marshall said. "No they are manipulating the public process, not the right to lifers."

Marshall said opponents of his in the pro-choice movement like Planned Parenthood won't listen to what outside parties like the Board of Architects have advised.

"Regulations you say are for the benefit of the women, they don't want to do it," Marshall said.

When asked how he will proceed if key abortion bills don't pass the General Assembly this year, he said he plans to wear down his opponents. And there are many in the pro-choice camp, like manager of grassroots organizing at Planned Parenthood Courtney Jones.

Planned Parenthood attended the rally to hear what the opposition was saying and record their words to hold them accountable. She said many speakers misinformed the public with their messages that day saying abortion providers don't stock certain life saving devices or have employees trained in CPR. Jones argued there are already health regulations in place at clinics.

"It's thinly veiled ideology is what they're getting at," Jones said. "They don't want the procedure to be safer for women. It has nothing to do with patient safety it has to do with putting providers out of business and restricting access for women."

Jones said the regulations proposed often include structural changes like hallway size or zoning, staffing and parking changes. She said these are massive upgrades they can't afford without passing on higher costs to patients and many clinics would simply have to close.

"It's an effort to chip away at Roe, I mean, what's the point of something being legal if you don't have access to it is how I think of it," Jones said. "So if there is one provider in all of Virginia and you are a lower income woman in Bathe County, can you afford to take time off work to travel to Richmond?"

The Planned Parenthood Jones said she worries what may happen to smaller, independent clinics if regulations are imposed and but she said:

"If precedent holds true, it won't pass this year and kind of the more anti-extremists like the governor and attorney general will use the legislative body for what it's there for."

As far as Marshall's bill is concerned, Jones said it could affect the kind of birth control Planned Parenthood could give out because some prohibit implantation. Depending on the definition of when life begins, a highly contested issue that bill asserts is at conception, these could become illegal but she said:

"I think the bigger issue is having one person or one party or one sect of a party redefine what being a person means."

For now Jones said she's not particularly worried about these two bills but the struggle between the two camps, who see eye to eye on next to nothing about abortion, continues.

"For us it's sort of the usual suspects legislation but our worst fear is that we could lose the senate next year and these bills could be enacted," Jones said.

-Caroline Jackson

Party in the Park 2011 Coverage

2011-01-21T08:55:00.005-05:00

Locals from every walk of life gathered in Monroe Park last Saturday. The event, spread by Facebook and word of mouth, was held to celebrate the 1000th signature on a petition to keep the historic forum open during the planned renovations.

The planned park renovation would close every section of the park for 9-months to a year. The party in the Park was a public demonstration to show concern for the park as a community center, and support those who need it most.

Alan Harrelson, a Richmond Native, has been coming to public feedings on Sundays at Monroe park for years. He collected over 500 of the 1000 signatures through an online and written petition, getting signatures from those who don't have internet access.

"This is the last place that the homeless have in this whole city to be at. They have chased them from place to place to place to place around this town and this is the last place. And if they take this, there's no place else to go."

Public feedings were the hot topic . Some groups have been feeding the needy for decades.

Cassandra Carter helps the needy with New Jerusalem International Christian ministries one Sunday a month. From Chesterfield, Carter said her and her group help in any way they can.

"We just come to talk to those in need, we come to minister to them, if its prayer they need or feeding, whatever they need that we can be a help to them because we are trying to reach out into the community to see if we can actually get them in a place were they are stable and able to have a place to go and get a job."

New Jerusalem is one of many churches that come to lend a hand.

Peggie Sterling, of the MCC Social Justice Committee, said the homeless weren't the only reason to stand up for a free and open park.

"People come here to gather as a community. We've gotten to know many of the people and some of them have come to our church after we have been here. This is just a necessary place for people to gather, there is no other place."

Music was a big part of the gathering. Local party-regulars No BS Brass Band were on hand to lend a note or two. The brass ensemble lead a parade through the park. In tow, the All Saints Theater Company, one of the sponsors of the event, were clad in rat costumes and paper mache rat masks.

A performance by All Saints lead to a brief lecture series, highlighted by a satyrical presentation by Eric Scott, local Wingnut, and a Monroe Park Campaign Organizer, dressed as Fan District Councilman Charles Samuels.

Samuels has taken the most criticism for the park renovations.

Scott said the dramatization was in jest, but supported by fact.

"I think that its important to show people that these things are ridiculous but they are in there. and they need to be addressed. because, wile the real Charles Samuels wont come out and say it just like that, that's what he's saying by his actions. That's the direction the Monroe Park Advisory council and some parts of city council are going in."

Some spectators to the event were folks who just saw the ruckus and stayed for the music.

Sunny Gilderman, a VCU grad, remembered Monroe Park fondly and came to see her old stomping grounds. Coincidentally, the former Director of Emergency services for the Homeless in Richmond stumbled upon the event. She frowned upon the idea of closing the park for an extended period of time.

"Its another example of lack of provision for those in need and a loss of services and NOT a comparable alternative offered by the city of other authorities so... not cool. At all. "

The arts were well represented at the celebration. Gull, a local masked multi-instrumentalist rode in the bed of a silver truck as it sped around Monroe Park, blaring his unique musical style.

Julie Karr, with a 'K,' played a more mellow song for the crowd.

She sympathized with the feeding programs in the park.

"I think displacing lots of people and feeding programs that have been here for almost 20 years is something we can NOT do and i think its preventable. I think having at least part of the park open allows for things like this, like whats going on today and I'd like to see more of this in general."

In the end, Just Plain Ant, of Just plain Sounds, a local hip hop collective, saw hope in numbers.

"We picked a beautiful day to do this. And i hope the efforts of today help the cause. And with the amount of people here, it should."

For Richmond Independent Radio News, I'm Brad Kutner with Danny Rathbun.

Chris Gethard and Friends are Coming to Town

2011-01-18T11:01:00.020-05:00

Listen to the full audio here.

Chris Gethard
Photo by: Ryan Roberts

Tonight, Tuesday, January 18th, The Chris Gethard Show Cross Country Adventure is stopping in Richmond and putting on a show at Gallery 5. Chris Gethard is a Comedian (and so much more) commonly recognized for his work at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater in New York City. Recently he starred as the lead character in the Comedy Central series Big Lake.

The show’s tour kicked off on January 15th in it’s hometown at the UCB Theater in New York City. At the conclusion of the show, Chris and his fellow cast mates boarded the RV that will take them across the country, making several stops along the way, including, Boston, Richmond, Chapel Hill, and Austin, before coming to a close in Los Angeles on January 27th.

Gethard said he’s using a unique way to get his fans involved; the tour has been, and will continue to be, determined by social networking. This includes the fund-raising for the trip done through the website Kickstarter, which allows people to donate toward a cause, often with certain incentives.

“You put up your creative project, and if people want to donate money they can, but you put up incentives, so if you donate this amount you can get this prize, and for a certain amount of money you were able to define one of our stops,” he said. “The guys down in Richmond at the comedy team, stepped up and they said, we’ll define one of your stops come do some shows. I’m a weird guy, and I do a weird show, and I have always heard that Richmond embraces that attitude in people so I’m super psyched to get down there, and every other aspect of the tour we’re gonna just let happen over Twitter basically.”

Gethard said the group will be getting into things based on the people following the tour on the Internet, they’ll see who is trying to hang out, taking suggestions from what to do to where to eat. He said along with the predetermined destinations, they will be going through random towns along the way, all the while making videos and posting them on The Chris Gethard Show website, where people can follow along with updates and an interactive map.

“We try with our show, we always want it to be funny, but funny and something else, like funny and weird, funny and violent, funny and sad, we always try to hit a few different emotions,” he said.

Gethard said he is familiar with some cool things associated with Richmond including GWAR and Richmond Lucha Libre. Beyond that, he said he hopes to take up an offer made by a local fan that invited him to enjoy some BBQ while in town, as well as finding out for himself if some of the other things he’s heard about are all they’re cracked up to be.

“Somebody also told me a rumor that Richmond offers segway tours, and if that’s the case then everyone should come with us and sign up, cause that would be fun,” he said. “We’ll make sure before we do it we will put it on Twitter, and hopefully people will be down and we can have a 200 hundred person segway tour through the streets, take back the streets via segway.”

Gethard said the comedians joining him on tour are used to doing shows together, many of which revolve around their personal relationships with each other. Despite the friendships he said they all are of the understanding there may be a few bumps along the way.

“If you get in an RV with twelve people and there’s only seven places to sleep, and you’re all comedians, and you’re all bored, and you are all grumpy and tired, who knows, but in my mind, that means more good comedy is on the way,” he said.

The Chris Gethard Show will be making its debut in Richmond, documenting every step along the way, to include an evening performance at Gallery 5 thanks to the Richmond Comedy Coalition and the donors that have landed the city on The Cross Country Adventure map.

-Sarah Freiseis

North Side Anarchist Sued by Richmond's Police Department, Finds Defender in the ACLU

2011-01-07T10:31:00.014-05:00

Listen to the story here

Photos by John Garcia

On Tuesday, Richmond Police department filed a complaint against Mo Karn, who they refer to as "a known and admitted anarchist" suing her for the documents they had released to her under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act.

In the complaint Police Chief Bryan T. Norwood said:

"In the present circumstances, the dissemination of these documents in any form to the public jeopardizes and endangers Richmond Police officers and citizens. Specifically, this information includes tactical plans for what police do in emergency situations."

RPD's spokesmen Gene Lepley told WRIR News in a phone call "We (RPD) does not comment on cases awaiting trial." But WRIR News had the opportunity to take a look at the files Karn posted to an internet client before she received the summons.

The files are manuals explaining various branches of the police force including the K-9 Unit, Crowd Management,Homeland Security Units, Property Crimes, Detectives and mounted, bicycle and Segway cops. They include requirements for different divisions and the training, evaluations, reports, attire, grooming and equipment that are part of each job. The documents include the first part of the city's Emergency Operations Plan which explains how the Chief of Police will alert local personnel and oversee public works in a major public emergency.

Karn is an "admitted anarchist" who is part of the Wingnut Collective in Richmond's north side and participates in a program called "CopWatch", where police are observed and recorded on the job. She said:

"My first thought is that this makes this situation not about the documents, but about the criminalization of anarchist in this country that has been around probably since its existence"

Karn said they found out Angela Harrison was the FOIA contact for RPD and contacted her for information.

"We started contacting her, then an e-mail conversation went on for a couple months whittling down the information we were requesting."

She said the documents are for the Cop Watch program.

"The police in general, I'd say, do not have a positive reaction to the presence of cop watch at any of their scenes or times when they are detaining people."

Fellow CopWatch participant Eric Scott explained why they wanted the documents:

"a lot of times the police officers don't follow the protocols that we know of, so we thought it was in our interest to know what the protocols were so we could see when they were doing that on a broader scale."

Scott said the anarchists followed the procedures for getting the police manuals.

"In the official response to the FOIA request, they detail how they have 7 days to go through and basically censor the document to keep information from getting out to the public that they don't want to get out and they did all that; but, apparently, some of the info they didn't want us to have still got out anyway."

And they haven't been given a cease and desist order from the RPD at this point. Karn said:

"We’re not compelled to do anything until the court compels us."

Another Cop Watch participant, named Dovi, said either way the case goes, the character of the RPD will be apparent.

"I don't think, one way or another, we, as anarchists, loose this one, If we win, we win a court case against the city, and if we lose, it just demonstrates the nature of the police state in which we are living and it shows they will go to any limits to repress information."

But the anarchist collective won't stand in court on it's own. Kent Willis Executive Director of the ACLU of Virginia said the ACLU is going to take the case.

"In many years, dealing with multiple FOIA issues, i've never seen one where the government attempted to retrieve documents it had tried to send out."

And Willis said the anarchists' case is supported by the country's highest court.

"There are strong legal precedents here that go up to the Supreme court. Famous cases like the pentagon papers that involve the government release of info and then trying to censor the info after it got out. And over again, the US supreme court has said "once the gov makes information public, it cant then attempt to retrieve that info, it belongs to the public at that point, and thats what the first amendment is all about."

He said RPD's motivations for suing Karn are unclear at this point based on established laws.

"Its hard to understand exactly what the city of richmond is thinking. The legal precedents are very much against them, also, because the info is already on the internet, there is no practical way to get it back anyway."

Willis said if this is an attempt by the RPD to target anarchists or this particular group's police monitoring activities, a court case is ill advised.

"Under the laws in our country, and in the way the courts act, the law applies the same to all. Its likely to backfire on someone if they think identifying someone by political party or affiliation will sway the court one way or another."

Mo and the Wing nut collective continue to keep to documents available online from a link in their blog.

What case the police have against the disclosure of these documents is yet to be seen but with the ACLU on board and media attention from the Daily Show to the Washington Examiner picking up the story, the case will either be dead in the water or the police will have to explain their point of view in court.

For Richmond Independent Radio News, I’m Brad Kutner with help from Caroline Jackson.

Local Skateboarders Take Matters into their own Hands

2010-12-29T12:23:00.006-05:00

Listen to the audio version here.

You can find a public skate park in most cities in the U.S. Henrico and Chesterfield Counties each have one but when safe havens for skateboarders began popping up around the country in the '90's but the city of Richmond never got one. Local skateboarders use Richmond streets or build ramps in their backyards but one longtime skateboarder Patrick Lowery decided to tackle a larger project. He and a crew of friends began constructing a swimming pool designed to be skateboarded in.

"It's the dream of every sixteen year old," Lowery said.

In his twenty five years of skating, he's traveled and seen what other cities have to offer. Lowery said he decided to build a pool because Richmond's never had one.

" I don't know I figured this is the only way this was going to happen. Every time we ask the city, nothing happens. So we did it."

The planning for the 8 foot deep kidney shaped pool began sixth months ago after Lowery bought a house in southside Richmond. So far 40 or 50 people have contributed man hours to the project which he said ultimately will include a wide array of skateable concrete structures.

"Tons of little towns all over the country, in the middle of nowhere, have concrete skate parks. Richmond, nothing," Lowery said.

Which is why he said local skateboarders have been willing to put in 1000s of man hours, digging out dirt and installing rebar. Lowery said often ramps and other items built to skate have been taken out of he local parks. But he said his project is different.

"The city gave me permits to build a swimming pool," Lowery said. "They can't really, i mean, how mad can they really be about what I do when it doesn't have water in it?"

Lowery's pool won't fill the niche a public skatepark would (you wouldn't necessarily want to bring your child to the DIY park to try skateboarding for the first time) but he said it will be more open than several private spots tucked throughout the city.

"Pretty much anyone that skates in Richmond will be welcome as long as they know me or a friend or approach it in the right way," he said.

So far Lowery has spent 7,000 dollars but the pool will cost about 5,000 more to before it is complete. He used his first time home buyers credit to get the project started. But the project is running short on cash and there is still much to be done.

"Now we have a page on kickstarter trying the money and I'm going to be selling t-shirts and stuff just trying to raise the rest," Lowery said. "Hopefully not paying it out of pocket because I don't have it in my pocket."

81 backers have pledged money to what Lowery has named "The Lost Bowl," so far, bringing the total to 4,189 dollars at press time. Kickstarter says it is the "largest funding platform for creative projects in the world." People with ideas who are short on money can explain their project on the website and set a goal for fund raising, in Lost Bowl's case 5500 dollars. Pledges can also be rewarded. Lowery is offering t-shirts, skateboards and a banner that will hang in his backyard. But Kickstarter only releases funds if a project reaches its goal. The projects has until Friday and its still 1300 dollars short.

James Wainscott has been skateboarding in Richmond for over twenty years and has been working on the DIY skate park since the projects inception. He said it didn't seem like the city of Richmond was interested in building a skatepark and skateboarders are burnt out on waiting for the city to come around.

"You might as well do it yourself and make it the way you want it and have it turn out the way it's supposed to. In a lot quicker time, you know. We've only been working on this for like two months and even though going into it we didn't know a lot about it we were able to pull a lot of knowledge off the internet and through friends who had done stuff like this before and it seems like it's been turning out pretty good."

Guy Maury Blankenship the Fourth, co-owner of local skate shop Dominion, has also put in some time at Lost Bowl. Blackenship has been part of the push for a public park but he has had little success.

"Because no one has the time to go to all the meetings and jump through all the hoops the city makes you to do just about anything but skateboarding is still, it's hard to believe, new to them, and they still don't understand," Blackenship said. "I think they're focused on keeping the city conservative, brick cobblestone instead of doing anything remotely new. Which is a shame."

Blankenship has helped design skate parks outside of the city. In one case, part of his design was omitted completely and deck builders ended up building the park. He has looked into opening a private skate park but because of rent and other expenses it didn't seem feasible.

Blankenship has visited other cities like Tampa, Florida, Lousiville, Kentucky and New York City where public skate parks are well lit, don't require pads and are open 24 hours.

"Other cities are more with it I think," he said. "It's not like I'm trying to say anything bad about the city I mean this is our city I like everything about it besides the one thing."

Blankenship said all he's ever known is no trespassing signs and getting kicked out of skate spots on Richmond's streets .

"I mean I could take you and get kicked out in less then five minutes, it's like that everywhere," he said.

And Blankenship said allowing skateboarding at existing parks doesn't work either because the ground and space isn't amenable to skateboarding.

"That's what their game plan is, they do it to kind of like make us be quiet is throw them a tennis court, let them use it, let them make their own stuff," Blankenship said.

One of the few viable options for skateboarders who want to practice in a legal space designed for their sport is the Richmond Outreach Center or the ROC which is associated with a ministry off Midlothian Turnpike. One skateboarder who WRIR News met at a southside tennis court turned makeshift skate park said the ROC is cramped and only open from 3pm-dusk.

"Pretty much why I come here. That's the only reason the ROC was worth going to because it was a free park, didn't have to wear pads," he said, "I mean it was supervised but it was cool, besides you kind of get bombarded with religion when you're there."

Within the last year, the Friends of Chimborazo Playground, which lies in Richmond's Church Hill neighborhood, expressed interested in developing a skate park. Blackenship said he drew plans as he does every couple years. He thought they were serious about building a public park but he never heard back from them.

"If they would have done it, it would have been really good. But they ended up flopping again, as usual. Which I'm used to, kind of," Blankenship said.

Despite many failed attempts at getting a skate park built in the city of Richmond, Blackenship said he is willing to put the work in.

"I just do it all for free, I don't even care. I just want to have something. I don't even want a park to go to every day. I just want a place to go to when I get kicked out of all the spots," he said. "I just want to skate street like I usually would and then when I get kicked out or it's not working out, or whatever then I want to go to a park where I don't have to worry about a hassle which may be 2 or 3 times a week, maybe even more."

Blankenship's message to the city if they decide to build a skatepark is "don't ruin it" by building a park without talking to the people who would be skating it and he said there are people who want a skatepark badly enough to design and help construct it for free. But until then, Lowery will do it along with a community of skateboarders who helped dig and anxiously await the completion of the Lost Bowl.

-Caroline Jackson

Foundation Rewards Good Teachers with Funds, Travel, and Education

2010-12-17T11:01:00.001-05:00

Listen to the full audio here.

Heather Leise at The R.E.B. Awards Ceremony
(Photo courtesy of Heather Leise)

Jeff Hall posed with Student Artwork
(Photo By: Sarah Freiseis)

Heather Reid posed with Science Posters
(Photo By: Sarah Freiseis)

Lindsay Porzio and Class
(Photo By: Sarah Freiseis)

Barry Gabay in the Classroom
(Photo Courtesy of Barry Gabay)

Last month, The 2010 R.E.B. Award Winners were announced at a ceremony at the Library of Virginia. 148 applications were received and eighteen winners and thirteen finalists were selected from student, parent, and colleague nominations.

The program, organized by The Community Foundation, and funded by The R.E.B. Foundation, awarded a total of $169,750 this year. The R.E.B. Foundation, headed by Rudolph and Esther Bunzl, has donated about $100,000 each year for teaching excellence since 1988.

The finalists prepared grants that proposed professional growth with unique itineraries to include working toward an advanced degree and world travel. Thirty-one teachers from the Metro-Richmond area were recognized and rewarded for their personal teaching excellence and commitment to public education.

Heather Leise, a 12^th Grade Advanced Government and International Baccalaureate Program History of The Americas teacher at Atlee High School in Hanover County said she was nominated by former students. She said she filled out an in depth questionnaire asking about her teaching style, and why she became a teacher.

“Once you find out you’re a finalist, then your prepare your grant, you do your grant for why you want to do it, where you want to go, how much it will cost, all the facts and figures,” she said. “Then they interview you, and then you find out in November, so it’s about a ten month process.”

She said the grant will allow her to enhance the classroom experience beyond just teaching the written documentation of history. She plans on bringing back learning aides in the form of artifacts from Latin American Countries.

“I want to compare two Latin American countries, one with a strong European influence which is Argentina, to a country that has still an indigenous influence which is Peru,” she said. “And to see the different make-up, the food, the people, the governmental systems, and how it’s influenced by either the European side, or the indigenous side.”

Jeff Hall, an Art Teacher, and the Fine Arts Department Chair at Maggie L. Walker Governor’s School in Richmond said he created a proposal to coincide with the school’s international language focus.

He said, “The R.E.B. recognition allows me to provide resources that teachers can use in their classes, whether they are teaching a foreign language or history, art is that great unifier.”

He said by visiting several European countries he hopes to compare the many facets of past versus present art and explore universal global culture in the contemporary arts.

“Across all those countries there is just tremendous diversity, of course classical and traditional art, as well as a very vibrant art scene,” he said.

Hall said he will be documenting his trip electronically via his website as it happens so the kids, and others, may follow his travels. He said he hopes to host workshops for teachers at Maggie Walker and surrounding counties when he comes back.

Heather Reid, a 5th Grade teacher at Echo Lake Elementary School in Henrico County helps create the science curriculum for the school, as well as the county as a Science CCT. She said it is important to remember creating relationships with students will inspire them to explore the subject matter.

“It will be a fun and productive learning environment, and you can have the interest, and the passion, and the experiences, to make the learning more meaningful to them,” she said. “Then they remember it better, and they are more curious about it, and they are more likely to go home and talk to their parents about it over the dinner table.”

Reid will travel to Hawaii and visually document her findings as an advanced open water certified diver. She said it is particularly exciting to see students take an interest in what is going on in school and out in the real world.

Lindsay Porzio, a 5^th Grade Teacher at Bon Air Elementary School in Chesterfield County is planning to explore the coast of southern Italy by sailboat as a part of the recertification process for National Board.

“I want to bring back to them a chance to see the world outside of Bon Air and to be able to inspire them to someday want to go and see places that we learn about and study about, just opening up the world to them,” she said. “In today’s world we have to make sure that we teach with a global perspective and not just our SOL’s and standards, that we have to make sure the kids understand they have an impact on the whole world.”

Barry Gabay teaches IB Program English and Philosophy, as well as 9^th Grade English to regular enrollment. He said many of his students speak non-standard English, Ebonics, and it’s the most prominent non-standard dialect of English.

“We have to provide equality of opportunity, it does not mean that you drag every kid across the finish line, you can’t, but you have to give equality of opportunity, every kid deserves a chance. Period,” he said. “And some kids need more preparation for the chance, and then they run the race.”

Gabay, a teacher from Thomas Jefferson High School of Richmond Public Schools, plans on traveling to India. He said he will visit poor and middle class neighborhoods to see secondary English instruction and then travel to Bangalore, the hub of the Call Center Industry in India to see how English language is used and applied there.

“So that maybe I can help our kids get employed, that’s my bottom line,” he said. “Seeing what India is doing with English language instruction, and then use in the workplace when language is essential rather than some other skill, where it’s strictly verbal communication, and see if there is a way to inculcate that into North American urban kids”

The R.E.B. Award recipients are able to embark on a journey of great professional and personal importance with the intent of enriching the community.

-Sarah Freiseis

VA DMV Can Deny Migrant Workers Drivers Licences

2010-12-10T12:50:00.003-05:00

Hear the story here

Starting this November, the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles has stopped accepting a federal work permit as proof of residency for immigrants applying for a driver’s license. Kent Willis, Director of the Virginia Branch of the ACLU says this will be a major problem for over 100 thousand immigrants living in Virginia, even the legal ones.

Kent Willis: DMV has now created a terrific hardship for individuals living in Virginia, who are here legally, who are looking for a job, or trying to keep a job, because often those jobs will require a drivers license. People who come from other countries to Virginia to work, who are here legally, are now being denied one of the things that will help them get work.
Melinda Stokes, a representative for DMV, disagrees. She says there are lots of ways immigrants can prove residency without federal work papers, which are also known as EADs or Form 1-766.

Melinda Stokes: There are over two hundred documents that are proof of legal presence, identity, residency, social security number. Everyone who can get Federal Work Papers should be able to get a drivers license should be able to get a drivers license too. When you’re issued an EAD, you need to have another form of ID to get that, and that particular form of ID is acceptable for a driver’s license.

According to Stokes, the new policy was sparked by an incident in August, where Carlos Martinelly Montano, a 23-year-old immigrant from Bolivia, was involved in a drunk driving accident that killed one woman, and injured two other people.

Stokes: From what I understand, the law enforcement brought concerns, to the governors office, about the I-766, as a reaction to that incident.

This policy is already drawing criticism from people like Claire Guthrie Gastanaga, a Richmond based lobbyist for immigrants rights. She agrees with Willis that the policy doesn’t make sense, and that it unfairly targets immigrants instead of drunk drivers.

Gastanaga: I think it was precipitous, ill considered, and arbitrary.
Willis, and the ACLU that Montano didn’t have a driver’s license to begin with, so this policy just makes things harder for immigrants, without preventing these sorts of incidents.

Willis: The fact that he was here legally as a result of getting this document is not related to the fact that he was drinking and driving. What you had was, a tragic accident, you have a generally anti-immigrant sentiment in Virginia, that’s been around for quite a while, and you had a need for politicians in Virginia to do something about it, and they struck at a kind of obvious target, in the sense that it’s a big one, but not obvious in the sense that its unrelated to the accident.
But according to Stokes, the DMV has had problems with the reliability of EADs, and that’s a big part of why they decided to stop accepting them.

Stokes: There were concerns regarding the I66’s reliability, is it proof that a person here is legally in the country, or not?

Willis disagrees; He says there’s no evidence Federal Work Papers are unreliable.

Willis: I suppose someone could obtain one of these documents illegally or forged or whatever, but that’s not an issue, and no ones claiming that, and you could claim that about any document, it’s not as if Virginia has determined there’s something unreliable or wrong with this document, and that’s what’s so baffling about the decision not to accept this document.

Gastanaga: I think it was precipitous, ill considered, and arbitrary.

It’s unclear how many people will be affected by it, and how much, because this policy is still very new. Willis said that the ACLU has spoken to a number of people are already having trouble getting a drivers license because of this new policy.

Willis: We’ve been interviewing individuals from across the state who have been caught up in this, that DMV is not using, or not allowing people to use this document, and it is causing a lot of problems for them.

But Stokes cautioned that the policy is still too new to be certain what its effects will be, and that there are so many other ways to prove residency, she doesn’t think this will be a problem.
Stokes: We’ve gotten some percentages back, I think its less than a hundred folks. We’re still working with them to try to find alternate documents for proof of their legal presence. So it seems to be a small impact so far. But of course, this is brand new. We’ll see over the course of the year how many folks are impacted.

This policy is already drawing criticism from people like Claire Guthrie Gastanaga, a Richmond based lobbyist for immigrants rights. She agrees with Willis that the policy doesn’t make sense, and that it unfairly targets immigrants instead of drunk drivers.

DMV Can Deny Migrant Workers Drivers Licences

2010-12-10T12:50:00.000-05:00

Hear the story here

Starting this November, the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles has stopped accepting a federal work permit as proof of residency for immigrants applying for a driver’s license. Kent Willis, Director of the Virginia Branch of the ACLU says this will be a major problem for over 100 thousand immigrants living in Virginia, even the legal ones.
Kent Willis: DMV has now created a terrific hardship for individuals living in Virginia, who are here legally, who are looking for a job, or trying to keep a job, because often those jobs will require a drivers license. People who come from other countries to Virginia to work, who are here legally, are now being denied one of the things that will help them get work.
Melinda Stokes, a representative for DMV, disagrees. She says there are lots of ways immigrants can prove residency without federal work papers, which are also known as EADs or Form 1-766.
Melinda Stokes: There are over two hundred documents that are proof of legal presence, identity, residency, social security number. Everyone who can get Federal Work Papers should be able to get a drivers license should be able to get a drivers license too. When you’re issued an EAD, you need to have another form of ID to get that, and that particular form of ID is acceptable for a driver’s license.
According to Stokes, the new policy was sparked by an incident in August, where Carlos Martinelly Montano, a 23-year-old immigrant from Bolivia, was involved in a drunk driving accident that killed one woman, and injured two other people.
Stokes: From what I understand, the law enforcement brought concerns, to the governors office, about the I-766, as a reaction to that incident.
This policy is already drawing criticism from people like Claire Guthrie Gastanaga, a Richmond based lobbyist for immigrants rights. She agrees with Willis that the policy doesn’t make sense, and that it unfairly targets immigrants instead of drunk drivers.
Gastanaga: I think it was precipitous, ill considered, and arbitrary.
Willis, and the ACLU that Montano didn’t have a driver’s license to begin with, so this policy just makes things harder for immigrants, without preventing these sorts of incidents.
Willis: The fact that he was here legally as a result of getting this document is not related to the fact that he was drinking and driving. What you had was, a tragic accident, you have a generally anti-immigrant sentiment in Virginia, that’s been around for quite a while, and you had a need for politicians in Virginia to do something about it, and they struck at a kind of obvious target, in the sense that it’s a big one, but not obvious in the sense that its unrelated to the accident.
But according to Stokes, the DMV has had problems with the reliability of EADs, and that’s a big part of why they decided to stop accepting them.
Stokes: There were concerns regarding the I66’s reliability, is it proof that a person here is legally in the country, or not?
Willis disagrees; He says there’s no evidence Federal Work Papers are unreliable.
Willis: I suppose someone could obtain one of these documents illegally or forged or whatever, but that’s not an issue, and no ones claiming that, and you could claim that about any document, it’s not as if Virginia has determined there’s something unreliable or wrong with this document, and that’s what’s so baffling about the decision not to accept this document.
Gastanaga: I think it was precipitous, ill considered, and arbitrary.
It’s unclear how many people will be affected by it, and how much, because this policy is still very new. Willis said that the ACLU has spoken to a number of people are already having trouble getting a drivers license because of this new policy.
Willis: We’ve been interviewing individuals from across the state who have been caught up in this, that DMV is not using, or not allowing people to use this document, and it is causing a lot of problems for them.
But Stokes cautioned that the policy is still too new to be certain what its effects will be, and that there are so many other ways to prove residency, she doesn’t think this will be a problem.
Stokes: We’ve gotten some percentages back, I think its less than a hundred folks. We’re still working with them to try to find alternate documents for proof of their legal presence. So it seems to be a small impact so far. But of course, this is brand new. We’ll see over the course of the year how many folks are impacted.

This policy is already drawing criticism from people like Claire Guthrie Gastanaga, a Richmond based lobbyist for immigrants rights. She agrees with Willis that the policy doesn’t make sense, and that it unfairly targets immigrants instead of drunk drivers.

Healthier Babies at 39 Weeks in the Womb

2010-11-23T16:51:00.017-05:00

Listen to the full audio here.

Photo by Sarah Freiseis
(Informational Materials Provided by The March of Dimes Foundation)

November 17th, the Central VA March of Dimes gathered in Richmond to announce Virginia’s pre-term birth report card grade. The results put Virginia at a “D”, 15th out of the 50 states, which as a nation also received an overall grade of "D".

Jennifer Yeager, a Central Virginia March of Dimes Board Member, said preterm births are a nationwide epidemic, and although Virginia got a low grade, it was an improvement over last year.

"Virginia did receive a 0.6% decrease in the amount of preterm births over the year, so that did help improve our rating, which is almost a C, so we're getting close, we're at 11.3%," she said.

She said the grading system was bringing the issues of preterm births to the forefront.

"There is a lot of education and awareness that needs to be continued, we're hoping that we can attribute to improvement of preterm rate awareness, making health care facilities and doctors aware of that 39 week requirement, that's part of the grade, insuring as long as possible babies are making it to the 39-40 week mark."

Yeager said at the individual level there is resounding directive to keep mothers informed about what they can do to ensure the healthiest pregnancy possible.

"Smoking during pregnancy, if we can reduce that, uninsured, getting the prenatal care that they need, as well as avoiding those inductions and cesarean sections that aren't necessary, they are not medically needed, they are done on a voluntary basis, if we can reduce those, that would make a huge difference."

Tammie Shatzer, a Registered Nurse with VCU Health System in Pediatric Intensive Care said most of the babies that are preterm are generally admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), even if it’s just for observation. She said once the preterm newborns have been released from the hospital, many of those infants experience problems and need to be readmitted, at which point they come to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit or PICU.

“There are a plethora of long term effects, anywhere from breathing problems, chronic bronchitis, asthma, BPD which is a little more serious, they can outgrow that, but it can be deadly, feeding problems, eating, digestive problems, developmental delays for life, growing issues, the list really just goes on and on.”

Shatzer said a day on the job is a very real representation of what happens to these babies as they grow up.

“Some of these NICU babies, that have these severe developmental delays and issues, sometimes we see them up until twenty one,” she said. “Some of these patients spend most of their lives with us, I’ve been in the ICU for nine years, and there’s kids I’ve known since they were a couple months old, and they’re nine now.”

Stephanie Zocco, a former Pediatric Care Unit Registered Nurse at VCU Health System, said the consequences of preterm births are enumerable.

“First and foremost would be the economic burden it has on health care, I would also say the financial and economic impact it has on families, they obviously have to be taking off work to be in the hospital with their children,” she said. “Another long-term effect is that children are likely to be behind developmentally, which is going to effect their education, and the likelihood of educational advancement, and lastly I would say the long term effect that children will be admitted time and time again into the hospital, again going back to the financial and emotional impact it has on the family.”

Angela Davis, the Central Virginia Division Director for The March of Dimes Foundation, said it’s essential to express how devastating preterm births.

“I think its important for everyone to know that prematurity is serious disorder in our country, it ranks amongst cancer and heart disease as one of the leading disorders in our country,” she said. “It costs our country 26 billion dollars a year for children that were born prematurely.”

She said The March of Dimes mission is to improve the health of babies, and part of that is helping people understand the issues connected with pregnancy.

“There is a huge misconception about children that are born prior to 39 Weeks, that if they’re six pounds or five pounds then they’re okay. What they have found in recent years through research is that a child’s brain does a significant amount of developing between 34 weeks and 39 weeks of gestation, 60% of its growth is done at that time,” she said. “When you deliver prior to that time, you are compromising the brain development of the child.”

Davis said the goal number chosen for the Preterm Birth Report Card system is an aspect of a greater objective that goes hand in hand with the March of Dimes.

"The 7.6% goal is Healthy People 2010, which is something that is established by the CDC not the March of Dimes,” she said. “But we do work closely, are office of governmental affairs works closely with legislators on Capitol Hill as well as our state legislators in issues like this.”

Prematurity continues to be a serious health problem and Virginia certainly has room for improvement.

-Sarah Freiseis

The Reel Pride Richmond Film Festival Comes Out Center Stage the Second Time Around

2010-11-09T11:01:00.003-05:00

Listen to the full audio here.

Photos by Sarah Freiseis

Last Friday, November 5^th, The Second Annual Reel Pride Richmond Film Festival kicked off at Richmond Center Stage. The sold out crowd convened at the Gottwald Playhouse and mingled as they awaited the opening of the LGBT film festival. Opening night attendees were treated to the Richmond premier of Howl followed by a gala. Patrons, sponsors, and volunteers were among those enjoying the party.

The film festival was organized by ROSMY, Richmond Organization for Sexual Minority Youth. ROSMY was started in the early nineties as support system and educational forum for Virginia’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning youth. The proceeds from the festival go to supporting the LGBTQ youth in the community, and some of the films, like FIT were presented by ROSMY at no charge to students as an opportunity to experience dialogues and scenarios they can relate to themselves and the world around them.

Beth Panilaitis, Executive Director of ROSMY, said the planning process began just as the previous festival ended. She said over the last six month things really started to come together.

"We had a film festival committee that got together, and vetted dozens and dozens of films, so its a fun committee to be on if you really are a movie buff, and have gone through and the films coming out this year and have been shown at the film festivals, contacting producers, and then watching all of the screeners to see which films were the best, which films made the most sense to show, and which films were the most representative of the LGBT community as a whole," she said.

She said things are already in the works for next year.

"Next year we can plan a bigger and better film festival, we expanded this year from last year because more people know about the festival, and more people want to come out, and I think more people also know about ROSMY, and so we can plan on it expanding and having another great selection of films," she said.

Panilaitis talked about how Friday’s festivities at the new venue marked a successful venture on many fronts.

"Last year we had a great venue at the Firehouse, and we really enjoyed it, but we were looking at growing the film festival and we sold out opening night last year, for 100 spots, and this year for 180, so we wanted to find a place that not only was larger, but would be something that would attract folks from all over the city, and we thought that downtown would be a great location," she said. "It's an amazing feeling, we have sold out tonight, you know we have a lot of people who are coming because we are showing a great movie but also because they want to support a great cause.”

Hannah Winter, a ROSMY representative, was outside of Richmond Center Stage ushering people to the Reel Pride Film Festival on opening night. She said she was having fun and glad to be a part of such an exciting event.

“Tonight we've got the Reel Pride Film Festival happening, and Richmond premier of Howl which is awesome, and just to benefit ROSMY which is a great organization,” she said.

Jane Lucas, a literature teacher at Virginia Commonwealth University, said that the excitement surrounding the opening night film is meaningful to her in more ways than one.

"I have long been a fan of Allen Ginsberg’s, and I think it's very exciting that this film is premiering tonight, one of my freshmen, actually earlier this semester during an oral presentation started reciting parts of Howl and I was so excited to hear someone 18 years old, who was so familiar with Allen Ginsberg he was actually reciting a part of Howl considering how many decades its been since Allen Ginsberg wrote Howl,” she said. “I was talking to him about the fact that this movie was coming out and he was so excited and had actually seen some of the ads and was so impressed with Franco's rendering of Ginsberg's poetry he was so energized and so excited about the fact that this film was coming out, and I am too, I’m always really excited to tell students that films are coming out that depict writers of great works, and so that's part of the reason that I'm very excited about this and that I'm here."

Monica Behney came to the opening event to support ROSMY while enjoying the more social aspects of the evening.

"I'm a volunteer for ROSMY so I've been supporting the organization in that way, for just over two years, so I'm really excited to support it in this way as well, and also have a great time at the event," she said. “I’m looking forward to the party.”

ROSMY Office Manager, Karen Austin, said although she did not preview the films, she was excited to see them as she knew the board had made a unique selection that could help ROSMY increase awareness.

“I hope it will continue to grow as word spreads and gets to the community in Richmond, and that more and more people will come out and support the Reel Pride Film Festival as well as ROSMY and the youth we represent."

The films, running all day Saturday, were specifically selected to appeal to varying audiences in the LGBT community. Many films were coupled to highlight a feature film and a short film in the same showing. 8: The Mormon Proposition played with a special screening of “I’m Just Anneke,” an eleven minute documentary. The Reel Pride Richmond Film Festival came to a colorful conclusion with the six-time academy award winning favorite Auntie Mame.

-Sarah Freiseis

Reel Pride Film Fest Ramps Up for Second Year

2010-11-05T10:21:00.002-04:00

Listen to the full audio here.

Tonight, the critically acclaimed movie Howl will have it's Richmond premiere. The film is about Allen Ginserg's infamous poem which spoke explicitly about homosexuality, and the obscenity trial it provoked. The screening is part of the Second Annual Reel Pride Richmond, a film festival highlighting gay lesbian and transgender issues put on by ROSMY. On Saturday, five LGBT relevant films will be presented on the big screen.

WRIR News sat down with Beth Panilaitis, Executive Director of ROSMY, to talk about what we can expect.

The first Reel Pride Film Festival in Richmond happened in February of this year.
She said it was the brainchild of a board member.

"Who thought this is a great opportunity number one for us to educate the public. It's something that doesn't happen in Richmond, doesn't happen in the central Virginia area so it's a great opportunity for us to educate the public, bring the community and it's also a wonderful development opportunity for ROSMY to raise funds and raise awareness of the organization."

Paniliatis said the event will happen every year in November from here on out. ROSMY moved the festival because they wanted to have a fall event in addition to their Springtime in the Garden awards ceremony. Also, the first event ran into some problems with mother nature.

"Last year the film festival was during one of the major snowstorms in February and we decided it would be great to avoid the snow and have the film festival when people can come out and not be barred by the snow."

Despite the torrential weather, Paniliatis said the response from the first film festival was huge.

"We sold out opening night and the vast majority of those people trekked out in the snow, came in boots and big jackets, it was a wonderful sense of community. And it's one of the reasons we moved the venue this year because we had such a positive response from the first year that we wanted it to be even bigger."

In order to accomodate a larger crowd, the film festival moved from the Firehouse Theatre to Center Stage this year. Peniliatis said ROSMY is part of the tradition of Reel Pride festivals, which have happened for over twenty years in cities like Winnipeg and Sacremento, bringing LGBT films to the community.

"The films that we show at Reel Pride are not films that you can just go to your neighborhood theatre and see, just like the other LGBT film festivals across the country. These are films that aren't necessarily going to be coming to other theatres. These are smaller art flicks and other things that we wouldn't have access to otherwise."

Howl starring James Franco is an exception but Peniliatis said it fits with their opening night gala and Reel Pride's mission.

"It's a great film, it's well done, it has some amazing actors in it and it also does highlight someone who's a pioneer in the LGBT movement. Allen Ginsberg absolutely lived an out life when it wasn't all that easy and I think that is something that is universal for everyone in the LGBT community"

And all of the money made from the festival will go directly to ROSMY. ROSMY has provided services to LGBT youth for almost twenty years and they also train adults to effectively work with LGBT youth. Peniliatis said:

"Those funds will directly help the youth in our community and will also help create systematic change for our youth no matter where they are."

The first film on Saturday is FIT which is the first feature film made for schools to tackle homophobic bullying. The film is free for students. Peniliatis said ROSMY's board members who were involved in selecting the films wanted to have at least one educational film.

"And you know, we picked it months ago but I think with everything that has been in the news, it is really timely and we will follow that with a panel where we will talk about how we can make our schools and our communities safe for our youth."

After that panel, five full lengh and feature films will be presented. Finally, the festival will show the charming 1958 classic Auntie Mame. Peniliatis said people have expressed particular excitement about this film.

"We thought it would be fun on Saturday night to close out the film festival with a film that people know and love most people who have never had the opportunity to see on the big screen and it's a really fun film to have people turn out to."

If listeners are interested in seeing clips from the movies showing at Reel Pride Richmond or to get tickets, visit reelpriderichmond.org.

Stay tuned for pictures and interviews from the event.

-Caroline Jackson

WRIR Helps to Restore Sanity

2010-11-01T19:15:00.006-04:00

WRIR News went to the Restoring Sanity and or Fear rally.

Take a look at the nice montage we made, because we were too wiped out to do much more...

And thanks to Amazing Ghost for letting us use their song for our video!