Reader Mary received a postcard in the mail from Balzer & Associates advertising a meeting next Tuesday “to discuss the development proposal for residential townhouses on Bliley Road near its intersection with Forest Hill Ave.”

I’m not sure if this is the eastern or western side of the intersection, but since that big white house on the corner has been looking empty for a while now, I’d guess it’s the eastern side.

The meeting will take place Tuesday October 9, 7PM, at Bethany Christian Church, 5400 Forest Hill Ave.

VCU student Michelle Antogiovanni wrote the following article for Dr. Jeffrey South’s Mass Communications class; Dr. South was nice enough to share it with us (any formatting issues hereabouts are my fault). A different piece along the same lines from Michelle also appears in the VCU Commonwealth times. Thanks to Michelle and Dr. South!

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The University of Richmond will be hosting an on-campus eWaste recycling event Oct. 11-13. The Thursday and Friday drop-off is reserved for K12, Colleges & Universities, Non-profits and small businesses. Saturday the 13th is open to the public.

All the details (and there are lots of them) can be found on the event’s website.

Details are sketchy so far, but apparently an ice cream truck driver was shot in the parking lot of a southside elementary school. This may or may not be in our immediate area- I think I can safely say it wasn’t Westover Hills or Redd Elementary. Hopefully some more details will be released soon.

What are the odds of two shootings, so close together in time and space, centering around the ice cream trade?

Edit: This happened at Greene Elementary, so not within our immediate area.

John passes along more information following up on last months’ Problem Solving Session.

On Friday Oct. 19 the city will hold a free one-day workshop designed to inform citizens, realtors, property owners, buyers, contractors, neighbors, architects, engineers and developers regarding the requirements of and issues relating to vacant building ownership. Topics including City concerns, rights and responsibilities, structural systems, building codes, violations, maintenance, demolition, spot blight abatement, historic rehabilitation tax credits, financing, tax delinquent sales, and more. For more information, contact Tyler Potterfield, 646-6364. No registration required.

The workshop takes place at the Hickory Hill Community Center, from 9am-5pm. No official word as to whether this was sparked by the attention Vacant Richmond has generated towards our blighted and abandoned properties, but I can’t help but think they’re at least partially responsible.

The latest in a long line of RPS school renovation/closure plans is making the rounds and, perhaps not unexpectedly, our local schools are completely missing from the first 5-year phase. The second phase (circa 2012) would see Swansboro Elementary renovated/expanded and Huguenot High replaced with a new building at its current location.

4th District Representative/Board Chairman George Braxton has been pushing a new Huguenot High for quite some time. Personally, I’m surprised that neither Westover Hills nor Redd Elementary schools have been targeted for closure/consolidation, considering they’re roughly 7/10 mile apart, but then Patrick Henry has only been closed a couple of years…

…which seems like a good opportunity to mention that the PH School Initiative folks should be meeting tonight, 8PM, at the Berryman Community Center, 400 West 32nd Street.

From the “There’s something you don’t see everyday” department: Workers building the neo-sprawl Creek’s Edge apartments, over by Stony Point Fashion Park, discovered a brain in a bag. Police were unsure whether it was human or animal.

Westover Hills United Methodist Church is holding its annual Fall Festival this Saturday, October 13. From 10am-1pm, the church will have food, carnival games, a dunk tank and, naturally, pumpkins. Pumpkins can also be purchased at the church daily from Noon-6pm (Saturdays, 10am-6pm) through October 31.

Style Weekly gives a quick shout to Nate’s Taco Truck. A VCU staple run by a Forest View resident, Nate offers “the best tacos in town — end of discussion.”

A press release today from the Mayor’s office alerts us to a town hall meeting, 6:00PM Tuesday, October 23, at Southside Community Service Center, 4100 Hull Street.

Rough night for neighborhood high school teams, both losing to teams from Chesterfield. Huguenot High School lost a close game to Monacan, 27-20 (NBC12 has video highlights online), bringing their record to 1-5. George Wythe High fared far worse, losing 43-6 to Cosby HS. They remain winless at 0-6.

The Sunday T-D published an editorial by 4th District Council Rep Kathy Graziano. If you were unclear on her position re: Wilder v. School Board, this should clear things up completely.

Thompson MS science teacher Kimberly Colbert is the recipient of a $25,000 Milken National Educator Award.

Recipients are recommended for the award without their knowledge by a blue-ribbon panel appointed by each state’s department of education. More than 80 outstanding educators from across the nation received 2007 Milken Educator Awards.

Colbert, a graduate of the University of Richmond, chairs the science department at Thompson. She is one of two Virginia teachers to win this year’s Milken Educator Award.

RPS press release here. Hopefully this will help the public realize that, despite the many problems plaguing RPS, there are still good, dedicated teachers in the system.

Today’s T-D is reporting that the Huguenot Bridge replacement project will be moved up and could open a year sooner than originally announced. A public hearing willl be held Nov. 13, 4:30-7:30 PM at Bon Air Elementary School, just across the city-Chesterfield line.