With affordable gifts by local artisans and the “Adopt a Pot” Annual Seconds Sale, the 43rd Street Gallery Holiday Open House begins November 28.

The RTD is reporting that “Richmond police have charged a man in a single-vehicle crash in front of a South Richmond coffee shop early [yesterday].” The driver, Alkaly Leo Keita, was charged with eluding police, driving without a license, having an open container and driving under the influence. Keita refused to stop at the Lee Bridge and led police on a chase that culminated in a crash “into a sign, a trash can and some tables and chairs outside the Crossroads coffee shop”.

Read more >

The agenda for the November 24th City Council meeting (PDF) includes this item of local interest:

Ord. No. 2008-281 (Patron: Mayor Wilder) - To *** enter into a sublicense agreement *** to allow Cellco Partnership to install and maintain telecommunications equipment on an existing tower located at 1399 Jahnke Road.

The folks at RichmondCrime.org have fixed the issues that had taken the crime map offline for a while. There is a lag in incidents being posted to the map, apparently due to data formatting issues coming from the Richmond Police data source.

In the latest installment of richmond.com’s Why Richmond Why?, reader Sara says “that church on Forest Hill, across from O’Toole’s recently changed their sign to fancy, bright electric sign. [...] did they have to get approval for that? Can we make them take it down?” … Two city officials respond that the church “has complied with all zoning laws”.

The latest installment of richmond.com’s Why Richmond Why? says that the closing of the Moe’s Southwest Grill is just because that one location was slow, not because the chain is on the ropes.

The originally published leaf collection schedule has been changed to a new one cycle, 10 week annual residential leaf collection service to begin on December 1 and run through January 30. The Leaf Collection Schedule for the Hills&Heights areas is December 8-12 (& is subject to change due to inclement weather). [via]

Read more >

Read more >

Richmond Public Schools will hold a meeting for parents and students Dec. 10 at Lucille Brown Middle School to discuss the application procedures to attend the district’s International Baccalaureate Middle Years Program for the 2009-2010 school year.

2008 Richmond SunTrust Marathon; South of the James Farmer’s Market; Patrick Henry Initiative Meeting; Southampton Citizens Association meeting; Richmond Audubon Silent Auction; MORE…

Read more >

Richmond Police arrested Marvin Jerome Hawkins and Craig Maurice Taylor in connection with the Oct.11 murder of Erica Williams in the 3300 block of Moody Avenue.

Read more >

The city recently launched new web-based mapping applications: Parcel Mapper (every parcel in the city) and Zoning Mapper (all zoning information citywide.)

Please consider purchasing a $15.00 wreath at the Westover Hills Library to be placed on a veteran’s grave on 12/13/08 for Wreaths Across America. Also, for every 20 wreaths sold, the library will receive $100.00 to benefit our local branch. While your’re there, pick up a schedule of events at the Westover Hills Library including: Movie Nights, Story Times and Computer Help for Seniors. The Westover Hills Library Advisory Group meets the first Saturday of the month at 9:00 a.m. at the library.

Charlene Vines Brewington of Thompson Middle School was one of 17 area teachers to win one of the R.E.B Awards for Teaching Excellence last night. Ms. Brewington was awarded $7,035 “to study the history of enslaved Africans in Brazil and their impact on Brazilian history and culture”. Congratulations! [via]

Hey folks! Bill’s request for help has ensured that the site will be up and around for a while, and now we’ve got a specific request for you: send us whatever needs to be shared, your news, comments, questions, photos, etc. hillsandheightsblog@gmail.com.

The 2008 Richmond SunTrust Marathon will pass through the area on Saturday, Nov. 15 from about 9AM to 11AM. The race route comes east along Forest Hill Avenue, and a special “Party Zone” will be held at the CVS at the corner of Forest Hill Avenue and Westover Hills Boulevard (mile 12.9).

Read more >

The South of the James Market will be continued through November. Also, the market will be open on Sat.Dec.6 for a holiday market. For more information, contact market manager Karen Atkinson at 513-3100 or themarketumbrella@msn.com. [via]

Patrick Henry Initiative Meeting; 4th District Meeting; 2008 Richmond SunTrust Marathon; South of the James Farmer’s Market; MORE…

Read more >

Richmond’s incoming new mayor Del. Dwight Jones will speak Nov. 12 at the Fourth District meeting sponsored by Richmond City Council Member Kathy Graziano. The meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 12, at 7 p.m. at St. Luke Lutheran Church, 7757 Chippenham Parkway. [via]

Woodland Heights is hosting its Annual Holiday Tour of Homes on Sunday, Dec. 7, from 1-5PM. Seven classic Woodland Heights homes will be on tour. Free parking is available at Woodland Heights Baptist Church at 611 W. 31st Street. Tour homes are within walking distance, although a free shuttle will be available at the Church. In conjunction with the tour, a free Christmas concert will be held at the church at 5 p.m., and refreshments will be served. [via]

Read more >

Hey folks! To help ensure that this site sticks around for a good while, we’re moving the whole shebang over to a new host. You might notice the site being at a weird URL for a few days, but everything will revert back to the usual URL when we are finished. Oh - and things might be broken around the edges for a few days. Thanks for your patience.

It was hard-fought, but the race is over and your new 4th District School Board rep is Adria Graham Scott. Marty Jewell and Doug Conner keep there 5th and 9th District Council seats, respectively. Betsy Carr retains the 5th District School Board seat.

Congrats all. Now let’s get this city moving in a better direction, please.

An hour wait in the rain @ Forest Hill Presbyterian this morning. Impressive.

Housebroken (mostly), plays well with others, great with small children!

Seriously, my schedule no longer allows me the time to properly administer this thing, and merely farming off posting duties to others didn’t work out well. If you or anyone you know is interested in the long, tiring, thankless hours immense rewards that come with running such a site, let me know. I’m willing keep hosting it for the time being and let someone else run it 100% or turn the keys over completely.