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Hi Librarian Nation! This week we are discussing Twilight by Stephenie Meyer, the now-ubiquitous tale of Bella Swan and the vampire who just can't quit her, Edward Cullen. This story has, of course, been widely read and adapted into famous films, and I was so happy to discuss it with this week's guests, Christina and Lelia from fellow Richmond book podcast Burn Before Reading!I was on Burn Before Reading last week talking about being a librarian during the Fifty Shades of Grey craze, so please go check it out (heads up that Burn Before Reading is for mature audiences only!).Burn Before Reading Podcast is where hosts Christina Kann and Lelia Hilton in an exploration of bad writing, cringey memories, and scandalous literary history. The cringe factor of literature is as ancient as writing itself, and Burn Before Reading is here to explore it all. Every week, Christina & Lelia delve into the story of a piece of writing, a writer, a movement, or a memory to unpack the people they used to be and appreciate how far they've come!O-Positive Party Punch (from Slugs on the Refrigerator Blog)Ingredients (per glass):3 oz. cranberry juice2 oz.pomegranate juice3 oz.sparkling waterSqueeze of fresh orangeInstructions:Fill a glass with ice.Add cranberry and pomegranate juices.Squeeze in orange and stir.Top with sparkling water and a thin apple slice.In this EpisodeVote for DITL in Style Weekly's Best of Richmond 2026Drinks in the Library Merch!The Butterfly EffectMean Girls FilmThis is the Skin of a Killer, Bella!The Byrd TheaterBooks by Stephenie MeyerSinners FilmBury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by VE Schwab
It is a privilege to welcome Woody Woodbeck to The Jake's Take with Jacob Elyachar Podcast. For over 20 years, Woody has been taking the world of entertainment by storm, starting in radio and quickly expanding to TV, entertainment news, and social media. He is an TELLY, EMMY & GLAAD award winning TV producer, former producer for Dr. Phil, former member of President Obama's Leadership Council of 2012, previously a producer for former Vice President Al Gore and CURRENT TV, and has been featured in PEOPLE, OUT magazine, Entertainment Tonight, Huffington Post and The Advocate magazine for his work within the LGBTQ community, high profile events and celeb relationships.Over the past several years, Woody was part of the production teams on projects for Hulu, MTV, OWN, Bravo, and his first feature-length sports documentary. He has worked on shows like Real Housewives of Potomac (BRAVO), Queer Eye (NETFLIX), Southern Hospitality (BRAVO), The Challenge USA: Season 2 (CBS), Beyond the Pole (WEtv), Love after Lockup (WEtv), The Real World (MTV), and more. Woody Woodbeck spent years dominating the entertainment news world as West Coast Editor-at-Large for LIFE & STYLE Weekly, coordinating producer at E! News Now, and a freelance writer for US Weekly. He hails from upstate New York, where he learned to treat everyone with respect and to wear his heart on his sleeve, allowing him to form genuine connections with anyone he meets. He is currently developing unscripted TV shows and is a producer at NewsNation. On this episode of The Jake's Take with Jacob Elyachar Podcast, Woody Woodbeck spoke about being on the ground floors of iconic Reality TV shows such as America's Next Top Model, Project Runway, and Top Chef, his time in The Challenge universe, and how working for NewsNation is similar or different to working on Reality TV! Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/jake-s-take-with-jacob-elyachar--4112003/support.
Justin Ferguson spends his workdays making Virginia real estate deals. But when work is done and it's time to play, Ferguson becomes TheBlackSommRVA, a role that allows him to share the wine knowledge he's learned while becoming a WSET Level 3 certified sommelier. "The more I jumped into this business [commercial real estate], I started being around wine more, and I wanted to be a better agent and understand what my clients want. So I'm like, let me learn about it. I've just kept progressing. And here we are now," he said about the bridging of his real estate and wine careers. "During COVID, it was great when the world was shutting down, and you didn't want to talk to anyone about real estate. I would call people and say, 'Hey, let's drink wine and talk about something other than real estate. We'll sit six feet apart and just be humans.' Real estate is transactional, but it gets too transactional. So, like, hey, Justin is here to provide wine value to me as well." But Ferguson doesn't just use wine to help his real estate career. He's been able to launch a second career as the wine director at The Underground Kitchen in Richmond, Virginia. "It is an experiential dining kitchen. So we're not open every day, which is great," he said. "The Kitchen pays respect and creativity to the LGBTQ community but also to chefs of color with flavors. We like seasoning. Chef Steve Glenn likes Creole and Southern cooking. So that's good portion sizes, but really well-seasoned food. It's fun pairing different cultures with wine." Initially inspired by Dlynn Proctor and the movie SOMM, Ferguson said he hopes his efforts expose more people to the beauty and wonder of wine. "There was a guy, his name was Dlynn Proctor, and he was, like, the only Black guy. There aren't many Black Master Somms. So seeing him in that role sparked the idea — representation matters," Ferguson said about his initial push toward earning his sommelier certification. "Because my family still, to this day, doesn't drink wine; they aren't wine people. They are beer and other alcohol drinkers. I think [wine] wasn't introduced throughout my culture the same way other spirits were." When asked to recommend a bottle of wine for Eat It, Virginia listeners to try, Ferguson did not hesitate. "The thing on top of my mind right now is, honestly, Black winemakers," he said. "One that I've been enjoying is O.P.P wine (Other People's Pinot Noir) by André Mack." Other stuff on this episode: The opening of Ripple Ray's, a Grateful Dead themed bar in Richmond (2:10) The new Mardi Gras menu at Get Tight Lounge (2:45) The Sunday Bagel phenomenon (4:40) The opening of the Ugly Dumpling (6:45) Robey's new column in Style Weekly (7:50) Robey's recent visits to Brave Captain and Susie's (9:00) The Mailbag wants to know about James Beard Awards snubbing Richmond restaurants once again (12:00) See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Antonio Owen, the chef-owner of Sweet P’s in Richmond, Virginia, recently shared his culinary journey and life philosophies on the “Eat It, Virginia” podcast with Scott Wise and Robey Martin. The veteran’s guiding philosophies in the kitchen is that no job is beneath him. "If you think you’re too good to take out the trash, your whole mindset is wrong," he said. This hands-on mentality has been crucial in establishing a strong, supportive team. The restaurant also embraces fun, with the introduction of “Whitney Wednesdays,” a weekly event celebrating Whitney Houston’s music and food inspired by her favorite dishes. In this episode, Robey also discusses an extensive list of Richmond-area Christmas bars that she helped compile for Style Weekly.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Deborah Freeman is the creator of Setting the Table, a multi-award winning podcast exploring Black foodways and culinary history that in 2023 was honored by the International Association of Culinary Professionals as “Podcast of the Year.” She's also a colleague in the food writing world, with contributions including to Eater, Condé Nast Traveler, and Garden and Gun, and is the food editor for Richmond's Style Weekly. We sat down via Zoom to talk about her most recent project, Finding Edna Lewis, a new docuseries for Virginia Public Media that explores the life of the Black female trailblazer who was a celebrated chef and author. As a proud Virginia native, Deb champions Virginia foodways and the power of personal history as a through line in food that can teach us about ourselves and connect us to our ancestors. It's something that Edna Lewis' work illustrates and the kind of work Deb is doing in the world, too; therefore, here's another Southern Fork sustenance conversation, diving deep into the foundational “why” when it comes to the power of food.
This week on the show the guys sit down with Jamie Radtke, from Global Media Outreach, on how to everyone can be a missionary in the digital world. Jamie Radtke is currently serving as Chief Growth Officer of Global Media Outreach .Jamie previously served as the President of Explore God for seven years, which merged with Global Media Outreach in 2021. Prior to her time in the nonprofit sector, Jamie spent 20 years in the public policy and political space, which culminated in her campaign for United States Senate in 2012.Jamie has worked in various roles for nonprofits, as an adjunct professor in higher education, as a consultant in corporate America, and in all levels of government. In 2010, she was selected to be one of Style Weekly's “Top 40 Under 40” for the Greater Richmond area. In 2012, she was selected to participate in the American Swiss Young Leaders Conference. Jamie is a frequent commentator and speaker.Jamie received her undergraduate degree from Liberty University and holds a master of public policy from the College of William & Mary. Jamie and her husband have been married for 24 years. They live on a farm in Virginia and have four children.Check out Global Media Outreach
#290: Today we're doing one of our favorite thing on HTLA: explore – and eating – LA's rich food scene. Every heard of Black tacos? Or as some people refer to them: Black people tacos? Well, they're a thing, especially in LA, and they are delicious. Think traditional soul food spices and braised meats with all the Mexican fixins' that Angelenos love. We love our tacos here in LA, and today we're exploring the origins and evolutions of the Black taco. And we eat at Sky's Gourmet Tacos. Guests: Veronica Daniel, LAist Studios intern, Deborah Freeman, food anthrologist and food editor for Style Weekly, Barbara Burrell, owner of Sky's Gourmet Tacos Places to grab a Black taco in LA: Ms. Ruby's Bakery 404 E Manchester Blvd # 1320, Inglewood, CA 90301 Taco Pete's (has been serving the South L.A. community for more than 50 years) 12007 South Central Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90059 (the historic location) 3272 West Slauson Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90043 Alta Adams (try their jerk-spiced grilled plantain tacos for brunch) 5359 West Adams Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90016 All Flavor No Grease Food Truck 8600 South Western Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90047 on Manchester near Ralph's. My 2 Cents 5583 W Pico Blvd, Los Angeles, California 90019
On today's episode we have Kevin Sheffield - a local bartending celebrity who recently opened Smoke & Barrel in the former space of the Dugout, Step Down Raw Bar, The White Dog, and its longest tenant, Lady N'awlins. The space has been around since the 70s. Kevin is most well known for his drink slinging skills at New York Deli. He's been in the bartending business for 10 years now at places like ChaChas, FW Sullivans and Lady N'awlins. He won bartender of the year for RVA 6 years in a row (2016-2021) and he's in the hall of fame for Style Weekly. He loves Richmond, going to VCU basketball games and Flying Squirrels baseball games. We also discuss Pharrell Williams filming his movie in RVA, Opossums, restaurants and band of the week, and more!Support Smoke & Barrel:InstagramFacebookReservationsBand of the week:Almost Gone - cool 90s/pop/punk cover band that does Blink-182, Nickleback, Nirvana, and bunch more great covers.InstagramAlmost Gone On SpotifyRestaurants of the week:Smoke & Barrel: 2329 W. Main StreetIt has a high end speakeasy vibe with an incredible happy hour and food menu. You can get high end old fashioneds, martinis, negronis, palomas, margaritas and more for only $7! We've never seen a happy hour price that good. They have an amazing happy hour food menu and a robust delicious dinner menu as well. Try the steak egg rolls and the empanadas - big portions for a great price. They also have duck and steak on the menu. Nothing is over $30.Tito's taqueria & Bar: 733 W Cary Street@titostaqueriarvaDrinks: Texicana marg or spicy mango margaritaApps: The Sampler - guac, cheese dip, salsa trio and flaming hot crazy corn rolled in hot CheetosEntree: Birria tacos with beef or hot Cheetos burritoShoutouts:NY DeliHandthrown Pottery StudioThe ParkMugshot
In this episode, we sit down with Taya Jarman, a communications professional at The Institute for Public Health Innovation, to explore the nuances of strategic communication. Taya shares her journey of conducting an initial communications audit at her organization, highlighting the importance of understanding and effectively using various communication channels to reach and engage diverse audiences. Through her insights, listeners will learn about the challenges and opportunities in crafting messages that resonate, the critical role of strategic planning in nonprofit communications, and how to ensure their efforts align with their organization's mission and goals. About the guest Taya M. Jarman, MS, APR is an award-winning and accomplished Communications Director at the Institute for Public Health Innovation (IPHI). At IPHI, she has refreshed the organization's brand to include a robust DE&I and ADA-compliant website, social media ecosystem, and marketing materials to improve health and wellness in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia region. Before IPHI, she served in the state government for 16 years as the Population Health Communications Director for the Virginia Department of Health (VDH). Throughout her career, Taya has won over a dozen local and national awards. She was recognized twice as Top 40 under 40 in Richmond's Style Weekly and nationally in PRWeek. She graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University with a Master of Science in strategic public relations and studied abroad in China (Beijing and Shanghai). She also holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in communication and leadership from Christopher Newport University (CNU) and a graduate certification in general management public relations from the University of Maryland Global Campus. When she's not working, she enjoys traveling and spending time with her husband, two sons Tripp and Tyler, and a pandemic puppy – Uno the Schnoodle. Resources Axios: https://www.axios.com/American Marketing Association: https://www.ama.org/Public Relations Society of America: https://www.prsa.org/ Navigating the Nonprofit Landscape with AI – George Weiner of Whole Whale: https://brooks.digital/health-nonprofit-digital-marketing/navigating-nonprofit-landscape-ai/ Contact Taya LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tayajarman/Institute for Public Health Innovation: https://www.institutephi.org/
Family Matters and the Premiere(s) of Sister Sister Family Matters S5E21 Sister Sister S1E2 and S1E2 Follow us @TGIFcast Email Us: TGIFcast@gmail.com Vote for us in Style Weekly's Best of Richmond for Best Podcast: https://www.styleweekly.com/best-of-richmond-readers-poll-2024/#/gallery?group=476843
Boy Meets World and Step By Step this week: Boy Meets World S1E19 Step By Step S3E20 Follow us @TGIFcast Email us: TGIFcast@gmail.com Keep voting till 3-31-24 for Two Guys Into Fridays in Style Weekly's Best of Richmond (Arts & Culture/Podcast) https://www.styleweekly.com/best-of-richmond-readers-poll-2024/#/gallery?group=476843
Today we are joined by Erin, the soulful and extremely talented vocalist from RVA's Erin & The Wildfire. The band started out as four college friends in Charlottesville, VA making music just for the fun of it. Today they have grown into a flourishing decade long musical experience with an idie-pop flair with influences from Emily King, D'Angelo, YEBBA, Vulfpeck, and Donny Hathaway. The band also includes Ryan Lipps on guitar, Nick Quillen on drums, Matt Woods on bass and Stephen Roach on keys.Erin & The Wildfire create their own music with deeply personal lyrics that mainly focus on Erin's journey with struggles with body acceptance and self-love but also touch on climate change, fighting the patriarchy and more. The band strives to make their shows a safe space for all ages and kinds of people.Their second full-length album, Touchy Feely was released April 1, 2022 and recorded in the Summer of 2021, after nearly a year and a half of virtual songwriting and collaboration during the global pandemic. The new release, named one of Style Weekly's most-anticipated local albums of 2022, was produced by acclaimed songwriter and producer Matthew E. White (Natalie Prass). The meticulous production, impeccable songwriting, and sensual vocals are present as ever on an album that polishes the signature style introduced by their popular single “Shape” in 2020.E&TW have also made appearances at some of the largest festivals on the East Coast including Suwannee Rising, LOCKN', FloydFest, CMJ, RoosterWalk, and more.Support Erin & The Wildfire:https://www.erinandthewildfire.com/https://www.instagram.com/erinandthewildfire/https://www.facebook.com/ErinandtheWildfire/https://twitter.com/ErinAndWildfirehttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCA8j8JBYzPOKZrrB7xwweRQhttps://music.apple.com/us/artist/erin-the-wildfire/727140636https://soundcloud.com/erinandthewildfirehttps://www.tiktok.com/@erinandthewildfirehttps://open.spotify.com/artist/03NHhY1mdWC3Hf9uJEnomj?si=W34dC8EkR0uy3YYgGx2z3QOur sponsor:Maya's Belly Dancing
Today With Kim Young: Today on The Inner Edit I am joined by Kim Young, Kim Young of Dope Black Social Worker and host of the Revolutionary Hoodrat podcast. Kim is a licensed therapist, a nationally recognized social worker, and an expert troublemaker. For many years, Kim's career centered on direct clinical services for youth, families, and communities. But over the last five years, Kim has shifted upstream, moving out of direct service, in order to make an even deeper impact in the field of social work, focusing on programmatic, organizational, and systemic changes. Kim gets it. She knows who she is and who she wants to help. And she understands how her platforms—in addition to her real-life work—are all a part of that. In this episode, Kim shares the story of how she ‘accidentally' grew her amazing online following, how she has (reluctantly at times) accepted her influence, and how she uses humor, authenticity, and creativity to make excellent trouble. Pick It Apart [2:45] Kim explains how she began growing a community online—completely by accident [9:40] Kim shares why she is so grateful for her online community and gives tips on cultivating respectful engagement. [20:44] Christie and Kim discuss the importance of setting boundaries, especially within online platforms. [31:38] Kim shares how she has resisted accepting the influence she has because she prefers to work behind the scenes. [46:55] Kim unpacks why it is important for content creators to continuously ask themselves and understand who they are creating content for and why. Christie Rocha's and Kim Young's Ah-Ha Moments “I'm not going to just create content just to create things. I'm not going say things just to say things…When I open my mouth and speak, it's real, deliberate, and intentional.” – Kim Young “If you have the platform, even if you're not going to share your own point of view, put the resources out there of the people that do.” – Christie Rocha “I'm a troublemaker and social worker at my core. Even though I'm online, I'm always thinking ‘how do I use what I have and what I have access to to make sure other people come along with me.'” – Kim Young “I'm not going to concern myself with things I have no control over.” – Kim Young “If we're creating content for external validation—because we're not giving ourselves internal validation—you're never going to find whatever you're looking for.” – Kim Young More About Kim Young Kim is a nationally recognized and sought after Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW), expert troublemaker. and host of the podcast, Revolutionary Hoodrat. Kim has over a decade of experience working alongside at promise youth, families, and communities. Kim is deeply committed to cross sector collaboration that utilizes an asset based approach to develop strategies which promote community driven solutions to system created problems. Kim has experience in providing direct clinical services to youth and adults in psychiatric hospitals , residential treatment and community based settings. Kim specializes in working with multi–systems involved youth and young adults who have experienced and participated in acts of community violence. In 2019 Kim made the shift upstream and stepped away from direct service to begin working on programmatic, organizational and system changes. Kim has worked nationally with universities, localities, and organizations delivering consultations, training, keynotes, and lectures. Kim focuses her work around three priority areas: Increase the visibility of Black social workers. Create pathways to opportunities for Black youth and young adults. Eliminate barriers to dreaming for Black youth and young adults. Kim has been recognized as an Essence Magazine Essential Hero, Richmond's Style Weekly 40 Under 40, Virginia Commonwealth University 10 Under 10 and featured in a number of publications and podcasts. Kim was born and raised in San Diego, California and is proud to have called Richmond, Virginia home since 2011. When not causing trouble Kim enjoys moving with ease, reclaiming rest and listening to trap music. Kim believes that relationships heal and there is power in empathy, compassion, and kindness. Connect with Kim Young Website Instagram Facebook X Connect with Christie! Website Like Us: Facebook | Follow Us: Instagram | Listen Here: Podcast Other Shows Mentioned: The Inner Edit #190: Renee Reina: Navigating the Intersection: Where Your Passions and Niche Content Meet on Social Media The Inner Edit #198: Tomi Obebe: Transforming Passion into Profit: Lessons in Blog and Social Media Monetization The Inner Edit #203: Chastity Holcomb: The Value in Trusting Your Instincts and Pivoting in Content Creation to Create Evergreen Authenticity
In November of 1996, Cloverleaf Mall in Richmond, Virginia was the site of the still-unsolved double murder of Cheryl Edwards and Charlita Singleton, two mall employees found stabbed to death in the back office of the dollar store where they worked. In 2004, investigators briefly thought they'd uncovered new leads... that don't appear to have resulted in progress on the case. In the latest episode of Late Edition Crime Beat Chronicles, host Nat Cardona speaks with Scott Bass of the Richmond Times-Dispatch who extensively covered the mall's fallout from the double homicide and the impact it had on the surrounding community. Episode transcript Note: The following transcript was created by Adobe Premiere and may contain misspellings and other inaccuracies as it was generated automatically: Hello and welcome to Late Edition Crime Beat Chronicles. I'm your host, Nat Cardona, and I'm happy to be back after a little bit of a hiatus. The last time you listened, I introduced you to the unsolved case of the Cloverleaf Mall stabbings in Richmond, Virginia. This week, I'm talking with Richmond Times Dispatch opinion editor Scott Bass, who extensively covered the mall's fallout from the double homicide and the impact it had on the surrounding community. Tell me a little bit about yourself, your career now and when you first laid your hands on this topic and coverage and what you were doing then, because I know it's like 15 plus years ago, right? As far as what you were. It was a long time. Right. I'm the Opinion Page editor at the Times Dispatch in Richmond. I've only been here for about a year. In essence, I've been a journalist in the Richmond area for almost 30 years now. Almost 30 years. So I've just kind of jumped around from place to place. I worked in magazine journalism for probably the bulk of my career. Richmond Magazine There was a publication here as an alternative weekly called Style Weekly, where I worked for about ten years. Prior to that, I worked at the Small Daily out in Petersburg, Virginia, the Progress-Index, for about two years. And then, oddly enough, I started my career as a business reporter for a monthly that a weekly business journal called Inside Business. And when the homicides took place in 96, I was I had just kind of started my career as a business journalist. Wasn't very good. Still learning. So most of my focus was kind of on the development side of things. In this particular mall was Richmond's first. The Richmond area's first sort of regional shopping destination was a reasonable shot. We didn't have anything like it, and it kind of replaced in the Richmond area, you know, in most a lot of cities where, you know, the main shopping district was downtown in Richmond, it was Broad Street. And Broad Street had the military roads. It had a big, tall Hammer's big, beautiful department stores. It's where everyone kind of collected during the holidays. It was the primary sort of retail shopping district. And then somewhere around, starting in the mid fifties, early sixties, shopping malls started to replace downtown retail districts as whites that not white flight, but as sort of the great suburban explosion took place after World War Two. Everyone moved out of urban areas into suburban the suburbs, and the retail sort of followed back. And this was Cloverleaf Mall was our first sort of big regional shopping destination that was outside of East Broad Street, downtown. And sort of a big deal. Yeah, we were a little late. Like Richmond was always kind of wait things. So, you know, this opened and the first mall Cloverleaf opened in 1972. But right about this time, within three or four years, several malls had been kind of built, were built right after Regency or excuse me, right after Cloverleaf Mall was built in 72, the Regency Mall, which was a bigger, much nicer facility. It was two stories that was built in 74 five. And then, oddly enough, Cloverleaf, which is located south of Richmond and Chesterfield County, which is sort of the biggest jurisdiction in our metro region, opened a second mall much further down the road, about three miles down the road from Cloverleaf, where there was nothing. It was a real tiny shopping strip with one anchor, and it did no business for several years. They used to call it the Chesterfield morgue. But it's interesting because just as an aside, you mall development really took off in the fifties after Congress kind of passed this as a law, basically making it, allowing developers to depreciate real estate development really, really quickly. And that was in 54. And that just jumpstarted mall development. And all of a sudden there was an explosion. Malls were built literally all over the country because it was very easy for developers to build a mall and get their money back paid off within a few years independent of how the mall actually was doing. From a retail perspective. So it just led to a proliferation of malls. And that's kind of what happened at Cloverleaf Club, which was the first. But there were several others that had built up not far away. And slowly but surely it was eagerness. It started E Cloverleaf to launch. This cloverleaf was sort of on the edge of Richmond or just across the border, and that's in Chesterfield from Richmond. And there's an interesting racial history, too, obviously, in Virginia we have independent cities, which means that our cities are actually they have separate governments from the counties next to them. Whereas if you go and everywhere else in the country, cities are tended to be centers of commerce that are part of another jurisdiction. In Virginia, we have independent cities, which means they have no connection whatsoever to the municipalities around them, which meant that in order for the city to grow, it had to annex the surrounding jurisdictions and its property residents. And this had been going on in Virginia. And, you know, the first part of the 20th century, the last one of the last big annexations and I think it might have been the last one was the city of Richmond, annexing about 23 square miles of Chesterfield County in 1970. Chesterfield County is just south of the city, sort of south and east. And they basically absorbed 23 square miles in about 40,000, 47,000 or so residents understanding that there was a racial backdrop here because this came a few years after desegregation and Richmond was sort of ground zero in massive resistance to segregation of integration in schools. And once that happened in the sixties, there was a white flight, a lot of white flight out of Richmond. People just white folks just left and they moved into Chesterfield and Henrico and some of the surrounding jurisdictions. The sort of last gasp for Richmond to sort of maintain some of its tax base occur in 1970 with the annexation. But it was also an attempt to sort of bolster the white political structure because most of the residents that they absorb were white. They were beginning to lose their political power. And that was a primary motivator for the annexation. The mall was built by Chesterfield Camp in Chesterfield County is kind of a big F-you to the city of Richmond. Like, okay, you can you took our land, you took our residents and we're going to build this big fancy mall and we're going to suck all the retail dollars out of the city into Chesterfield County. That's the way a lot of people read that. So it's just she has an interesting history there. The location was just across the city border, the border with Richmond and Chesterfield. They wouldn't even allow busses to venture into Chesterfield County because the idea was to allow busses to come into the county. We're going to be allowing black folks to come here and no one wanted that because there was a lot of there was this perception that once black residents moved in to Chesterfield County, then, you know, everything was lost. This was a difficult time for the Richmond region from a racial perspective, was not a healthy, healthy time or a place. So the mall had always had sort of this slight stigma attached to it in that regard. But in the very beginning, Cloverleaf Mall was really the center of fashion for a couple of years in Richmond. Everyone coalesced there. You know, the local department stores, which had they had stores all up and down the East Coast, Tom Heimer and Miller Roads that were founded here for hire was there. Railroads came a little bit later and Richmond really was for a period of time, kind of a center of retail innovation. This was in the seventies, sixties and seventies. A lot of the big, big format, big box stores kind of came out of Richmond and Circuit City best products. Back in those days. They were the kind of first to actually do big, big box retail. So it was an interesting time and an interesting place for Richmond because we had this history of sort of retail innovation in New York on the East Coast and in the south. And the mall came along. It was a brand new concept and everyone's letter to the mall that lasted for a few years until the other malls started showing up and duplicating those efforts. And it just kind of splintered the market. The homicides came, I guess it was 96. So several years later, the mall was in decline, had been for several years as a sort of suburban development, really took off in Chesterfield further out where around that other mall that built in that direction. So the mall completely mall was in decline, had been struggling. They had struggled to keep their department stores. They would leave, they would have new ones come in. It was difficult, but during the early nineties, things really started to take a turn. Richmond at that time was becoming known as one of the murder capitals of the U.S. during the crack cocaine epidemic, and a lot of people in the surrounding jurisdictions kind of looked at Richmond as this dangerous place to be and it was drug infested. You didn't want to go into the city. And Cloverleaf kind of was right on the edge. People kind of associated Richmond with Cloverleaf on some level. So it was in decline. People began to view Cloverleaf as a dangerous place or potentially a dangerous place. And then when the double homicides took place in 96, that was kind of the end of it. But a lot of the tenants at the mall decided not to renew their leases. The decline just accelerated and that was, I think, most people who are here in Richmond, you can recall this time period, would agree that that double homicide was kind of the nail in the coffin for Clover Moore, for lack of a better word. Sure. They only. We need to take a quick break, so don't go too far. See you all soon during your you know, your coverage of that and the decline and talking in the nineties, Do you have any recollection of what else was going on there? I mean, goofy things happen when there's like vacant stores and that kind of thing. I mean, there had but like, like what didn't what was going on inside a, I mean, murderous aside, like as far as trouble, whatever you want to label it as. There have been some, you know, some reports of, you know, teenagers walking around the mall intimidating, you know, shoppers, that kind of thing. The mall had changed in terms of the retail mix. So as as it became less of a destination and other malls had kind of cornered the market in more populous areas, the demographics around Cloverleaf were lower income. You know, there was a higher black population, higher Latino population, and you started to see a change in retail mix. So you didn't have some of the higher end retailers or the big chains had already kind of breaking. So the gaps, you know, the limited and those kinds of stores had kind of long had and left the place. So you ended up with smaller stores that didn't quite fill the spaces that had been originally, you know, it was designed for a larger footprint and it created more vacancies. And it became a place where, you know, people kind of viewed all that's at the mall is the low income, you know, mall for for people who don't have as much money. And the clientele kind of matched that. And that's the way a lot of people used. CLOVERLEAF But the vacancies were there. I mean, I don't know that it was anything I don't recall any any other major episodes. There had been, I think, another where every now and then there would be a report of someone who had been fired or a gun or a shooting or something like that. But it wasn't. But thanks for clarifying that. Yeah, I just didn't know if there was like other stuff going on there. It's more just like we don't go there because it's more. That's what made this case so bizarre, is because it was a state. It was a you know, I think they were both staffed at least ten times, from what I recall. And, you know, they they couldn't quite figure out sort of, well, who was this someone who was just passing through? Because it was kind of an it was right off of Chippenham Parkway, was close to the interstate. Could this been someone who was just passing through where they're looking around? Who knows? But the fact that they were stabbed multiple times kind of raised the question of it seemed personal. There was nothing I mean, not I mean, they scoured I mean, the police really did put everything into this, as far as I recall. And they just kept coming up empty. They couldn't that they had every lead that they had. There was a U-Haul at one point in the parking lot that it had been left unlocked with the lights on. I think that turned out to not be connected. They just they just got run into dead ends. And yeah, it's just bizarre. I have no one really ever I don't think that. I suspect today they are not any closer than they were. We know whatever happened in 2004 as a possible break in the case or we did, you know, obviously fizzled out. And it's been there almost 20 years since. So, yeah, it's definitely really. 30 years here. Yeah. Yeah. Well, from 24 for there to be like this possible break. But that was like the last that we've seen. Right. That's the most completely They gone now. They tore down that wall. Right. So, so 1990. So November 1996, these murders happened. I was your one style Weekly article that I first came across was, you know, eight years later in 2004. So when you were covering that, where where was the mall at at that time? Was it about like literally on its last legs or. Yes, it was. It was literally on this last legs. I mean, in terms of the other day, gosh, I can't recall who was actually if one of the department stores was still there. wow. Sears might have still been there in 2004. Okay. But I believe they were the last anchor. But yeah, at that point in time, I mean, you know, a lot of it becomes self-fulfilling prophecy. Chesterfield County had pegged it for redevelopment a few years earlier. And, you know, if you spend enough time talking about the mom and dad to your constituents and the news and with plans of what we're going to do to fix it, it kind of seals the enamel. Yeah. And by 2004, it was done. Okay. It was just a matter of who was going to pay for the redevelopment. Sure. And then on as an aside to that on the fringe, it really could never shake that. This is the place where two women were murdered and they still don't know what happened. True. Yeah. No, absolutely true. There was a real estate agent. Real estate agent or a commercial real estate broker. We followed all of this with me, and the story that I wrote made the comment that, you know, that was got death written all over it. And that was really true. Like no one wanted to touch them all. You couldn't get content to resign. It just had this perception of being in a bad area. There's some racial undertones to it, of course, but by that point it was so far gone that I don't think anyone reasonably thought it could be resurrected as a retail destination. Sure. And then do you have any idea how long that all in $1 store where they were murdered out? Like how long did that survive? Any clue after they were murdered? Yeah, I don't imagine a real oak. That's a really good question. I don't know the answer to every you know. Have you talked have you tried to talk to Jay Latham? I know that the feelers have been out with that. I he he would probably have more insight on that. Right. He's a great interview. Yeah. And he actually had he did two stints there. So he was I thought he was the original loan manager, but he came in I think 75 or six, 76 somewhere. There came a couple of years after they left and then came back and he was the manager at the mall where the homicides took place. And it was like a really crazy time period, really. He just returned five weeks before or something. He hadn't been there long, and they were in the process of trying to revive it. So he worked for a Think Simon Property group, which is either just purchased the mall or believe it and have to go back and check. But yeah he was with a group that had was they had taken it over and they were had hopes of sort of reviving and then that happened and yeah, changed his plans. So. Right, so what, what's there now. They had this sort of mixed use thing. It's, there's a big Kroger, one of the biggest doesn't have me, there's nothing exciting there. They basically replace it with a mix of retail and residential and Chester County had gotten involved in issuing health issue bonds to kind of pay for some of the infrastructure and got Kroger to build. I think at the time it might still be one of the biggest Kroger's in Virginia and it's just massive Kroger marketplace. And that was the big anchor. Well, interestingly, there is one little remnant of the mall still left, which is a tire shop that was part of the mall and it still has the old sixties and early seventies sort of architecture that refused to sell. And it's still there. And it's right in the middle of this sort of new development because they put him on kind of sticking out like a sore thumb. So you can appreciate. The entire place. Yeah, and it's exciting, but they're in the process of redeveloping the whole area now. You know, there's some stuff going to put it in a couple of ice skating rinks across the street and there's a big sort of office park that have been there for years. They're trying to interconnect their office park with some shopping district slash entertainment complex right next to it that's close to the mall. You know. This is like any to pop that in any city kind of thing. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. What's different? Right. Well, what's the what's the demographics in the area now? It's still primarily it's not a high income. You know, the area of of just, you know, just was big is about 400 square miles. So it's a big, big footprint. The sort of the as the suburban development kind of shifted further out, you know, that there was sort of inner edge parts of both counties is just kind of, you know. The one last thing that pops in my mind here is, I mean, I know you weren't a crime reporter and you are not one currently, but just for more context, because we're I'm not there and I know that Richmond was at one time, you know, the murder capital, like you say. Are there more cases like this? Like I just I guess it's interesting to me that there's so little coverage of an unsolved murder of two women at a mall, something so public. And you know, seemingly random. And it's just like, is this? And I was just kind of one of those earmarked cases in the area that people like. Definitely. No, definitely remember like or other like tons of these. I just I just don't get it. I think at the time I mean the be just what I remember of this time period, you know, Richmond was I think two years early. We had 160 murder incidents in a city of less than 200,000 people. It was a problem. We had a higher murder rate. So it wasn't it didn't happen often in Chesterfield, the jurisdictions around the city. I mean, they always had it and we've always had issues, but not not 160 murders year. So when the Cleveland murders happened, I think it just kind of got lost a little bit. I was like, okay, it's there's a racial element to it. You know, if it were two white women, then there would be way more attention focused on it. That's just tends to be the case. And because these were minority women who were found stabbed to death and all that, people had stopped caring about at least those with political power and stopped caring about allowing it to sort of just kind of drift. That's quite a bit of that here. No, it's almost. Yeah. Is there anything else you just want to add about your realm of things in connection with cool relief? Yeah, I'm so, I mean, you know, I hope it's I hope it's enough for you to sink your teeth into. And I guess I'm not having a lot of information about the actual case itself. I know Chesterfield was very close to the vest about what they were, what they would release the police department was. So I recall just kind of during when I was reporting on this, just kind of being in my head against the wall because they wanted this to be out there. But they were very it was very difficult to get them to talk about some of the leads that they had and didn't have them. All that good stuff. You know, I think for me, just going back and looking at the the case itself, I was always fascinated with it. I mean, I'm I'm a local, you know, journalist, you know, So outside of Richmond, maybe you wouldn't care about such things. But, you know, there are there are so many different layers to it from understanding like the connection between annexation and sort of the racial history. There was always like another layer to it that maybe I didn't think about or didn't realize until I went back and looked at everything again. And that's all for now. Subscribe. So that you don't come back and you episodes cases are coming your way. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
This is an interview with Ben Cleary, author of "Searching for Stonewall Jackson: A Quest for Legacy in a Divided America." Kevin and Ben discuss the famed Confederate general in terms of his military genius and his unique eccentricities. Ben is an author, journalist, and teacher. He has written extensively for a variety of media, including print, web, video, and radio. His journalism has aired on All Things Considered and appeared in the New York Times and Richmond's Style Weekly. His creative biography of Stonewall Jackson is available now from Hachette Book Group. Find Ben at https://bencarloscleary.com/ Find his book at Amazon.com: Searching for Stonewall Jackson: A Quest for Legacy in a Divided America eBook : Cleary, Ben: Kindle Store
FINALLY THE MIGHTY THREE IS BACK!!!!! Moral, Carl, and Gabriela look back on an amazing season. Moral sends a congrats to Style Weekly's Top 40 under 40. ShoutOut goes to Rollineatz Food Truck (@rollineatzva) and Gabriela shares her perspective on the pod's growth and impact this season. Follow for more happening on IG @embrace_podcast
Jason Roop, former editor of Style Weekly and founder of media/PR firm Springstory, joins John to give a Richmond weekend update.
Jason Roop, former Editor of Style Weekly and founder of media and PR firm Springstory, speaks to John Reid about all the exciting things going on this weekend in Richmond.
Monica and Ethan King continue their conversation with Tommy Bettin and Maggie Small of Fred Astaire Dance Studios in Richmond, Virginia. Discussing adding children to the mix, determining roles and responsibilities and the internal secrets that make it all work successfully, this episode shares the second part to their conversation. Episode Quote: Our relationships whether business or personal are nourished and shaped by the commitment we express through our actions. Dr. Steve Maraboli Fred Astaire Dance Studio Richmond https://www.facebook.com/fredastaireRVA Tommy Bio Tommy Bettin, a classical trained ballet dancer and ballroom and latin professional dancer, trained and performed throughout the United States and Mexico. Mr. Bettin started his own independent ballroom school, Maity Dance, in Richmond, Virginia which transitioned to become a part of the Fred Astaire Franchised Studios. Over the last 5 years, Mr. Bettin has launched the FADS Richmond location into one of the foremost performing in the franchise and has been awarded individually as “Top 40 Under 40” by Richmond-based publication, Style Weekly, for making a notable impact on the growth of the city by excelling in his genre. Maggie Bio Maggie Small, a native of Richmond, Virginia, danced as a professional ballerina with Richmond Ballet for 16 years and has earned a B.A. in Performing Arts from St. Mary's College of California. She has performed internationally in the United Kingdom and China as well as domestically in notable performance spaces such as The Joyce Theater, Jacob's Pillow and alongside Carmen Devallade at Jazz at Lincoln Center. Honors include a Dance Magazine cover story feature as Richmond Ballet's “Homegrown Ballerina”, a “Hometown Hero” Award from the Links, Inc., Style Weekly's Top 40 Under 40, Class of 2020 and the inaugural “Dancer of the Year” RVA Dance Award. Maggie retired from Richmond Ballet in 2019 where she remains as member of the Advisory Council. She also serves as a member of Richmond City's Public Art Commission and works with her husband and business partner, Tommy Bettin, operating and growing Ballroom, Latin and Social Dance studio, Fred Astaire Dance Studio Richmond. Episode Sponsor - Zeus' Closet Helpful Entrepreneurial Resources from Become Your Own Boss Helpful Entrepreneurial Resources from Become Your Own Boss Join the Become Your Own Boss Community Monica FREE ebook Get your Become Your Own Boss Planner Ways to reach Monica: Instagram: @becomeyourownbosspodcast Email: monica@monicaallen.com --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/becomeyourownboss/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/becomeyourownboss/support
Have you thought about working with your spouse? Are you considering starting a business with your significant other? Are you already in business together? On this week's episode, Monica hands over the mic to her husband and business partner, Ethan King as they talk with Tommy Bettin and Maggie Small about startup challenges, one of the biggest myths of owning your own business, working together and so much more. Episode Quote: There is only one thing you must remember in order to have a successful marriage. Always put your spouse first. ~Unknown Fred Astaire Dance Studio Richmong https://www.facebook.com/fredastaireRVA Tommy Bio Tommy Bettin, a classical trained ballet dancer and ballroom and latin professional dancer, trained and performed throughout the United States and Mexico. Mr. Bettin started his own independent ballroom school, Maity Dance, in Richmond, Virginia which transitioned to become a part of the Fred Astaire Franchised Studios. Over the last 5 years, Mr. Bettin has launched the FADS Richmond location into one of the foremost performing in the franchise and has been awarded individually as “Top 40 Under 40” by Richmond-based publication, Style Weekly, for making a notable impact on the growth of the city by excelling in his genre. Maggie Bio Maggie Small, a native of Richmond, Virginia, danced as a professional ballerina with Richmond Ballet for 16 years and has earned a B.A. in Performing Arts from St. Mary's College of California. She has performed internationally in the United Kingdom and China as well as domestically in notable performance spaces such as The Joyce Theater, Jacob's Pillow and alongside Carmen Devallade at Jazz at Lincoln Center. Honors include a Dance Magazine cover story feature as Richmond Ballet's “Homegrown Ballerina”, a “Hometown Hero” Award from the Links, Inc., Style Weekly's Top 40 Under 40, Class of 2020 and the inaugural “Dancer of the Year” RVA Dance Award. Maggie retired from Richmond Ballet in 2019 where she remains as member of the Advisory Council. She also serves as a member of Richmond City's Public Art Commission and works with her husband and business partner, Tommy Bettin, operating and growing Ballroom, Latin and Social Dance studio, Fred Astaire Dance Studio Richmond. Episode Sponsor - Zeus' Closet Helpful Entrepreneurial Resources from Become Your Own Boss Helpful Entrepreneurial Resources from Become Your Own Boss Join the Become Your Own Boss Community Monica FREE ebook Get your Become Your Own Boss Planner Ways to reach Monica: Instagram: @becomeyourownbosspodcast Email: monica@monicaallen.com --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/becomeyourownboss/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/becomeyourownboss/support
Jason Roop, former Editor of Style Weekly and founder of media and PR firm Springstory, joins Richmond's Morning News to give us a Richmond Weekend Update
Former Editor of Style Weekly and Founder of media and PR firm Springstory Jason Roop provides his weekend event update.
In this episode, Katee and Jackye chat with Aurora Higgs. Aurora (she/they) is a Black queer visionary and activist from Richmond, Va. Aurora works as an equity consultant all around the world. Aurora transitioned in 2018 and uses her platform to promote justice and equity. Aurora is the VP of Operations at HUMiN Inc, a Seattle-based Consultancy specializing in DEI and Management Consulting for Large Tech and Biopharma corporate clients. In 2019, Aurora founded Borealis Consulting RVA where she works as a speaker, researcher, performer, and producer of media that elevate queer BIPOC voices. Higgs also was invited to assist Del. Danica Roem (D-Prince William), in passing several pieces of legislation related to transgender rights in Virginia, including a bill to make transphobic discrimination by medical providers illegal. Her work in the Richmond community has earned her a number of honors in recent years. Aurora was a featured honoree in Style Weekly's 2019 Top 40 Under 40 Issue as well as in the Virginia Museum of History and Culture's Agents of Change Exhibit. The Advocate named Aurora a 2022 Champion of Pride from Around the US. And if you ever find yourself on MacArthur Ave in RVA, you can find a mural in honor of Aurora and her impact on the community. Aurora believes that her calling is to show up in spaces bravely and authentically, no matter the repercussions. Someone once said “Show up so BIG in the room that it feels too small after you've left.” Aurora holds this mantra close to her heart as she creates space for her communities and herself. If you like what you hear, we would like to encourage you to subscribe to our channel! We would also appreciate it if you would rate this channel by going here: RateThisPodcast.com/inclusiveaf We create this podcast as a labor of love. But if you would like to support this channel you can buy us a cup of coffee here: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/InclusiveAF
In this episode, Katee and Jackye chat with Aurora Higgs. Aurora (she/they) is a Black queer visionary and activist from Richmond, Va. Aurora works as an equity consultant all around the world. Aurora transitioned in 2018 and uses her platform to promote justice and equity. Aurora is the VP of Operations at HUMiN Inc, a Seattle-based Consultancy specializing in DEI and Management Consulting for Large Tech and Biopharma corporate clients. In 2019, Aurora founded Borealis Consulting RVA where she works as a speaker, researcher, performer, and producer of media that elevate queer BIPOC voices. Higgs also was invited to assist Del. Danica Roem (D-Prince William), in passing several pieces of legislation related to transgender rights in Virginia, including a bill to make transphobic discrimination by medical providers illegal. Her work in the Richmond community has earned her a number of honors in recent years. Aurora was a featured honoree in Style Weekly's 2019 Top 40 Under 40 Issue as well as in the Virginia Museum of History and Culture's Agents of Change Exhibit. The Advocate named Aurora a 2022 Champion of Pride from Around the US. And if you ever find yourself on MacArthur Ave in RVA, you can find a mural in honor of Aurora and her impact on the community. Aurora believes that her calling is to show up in spaces bravely and authentically, no matter the repercussions. Someone once said “Show up so BIG in the room that it feels too small after you've left.” Aurora holds this mantra close to her heart as she creates space for her communities and herself. If you like what you hear, we would like to encourage you to subscribe to our channel! We would also appreciate it if you would rate this channel by going here: RateThisPodcast.com/inclusiveaf We create this podcast as a labor of love. But if you would like to support this channel you can buy us a cup of coffee here: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/InclusiveAF
In this episode, Katee and Jackye chat with Aurora Higgs. Aurora (she/they) is a Black queer visionary and activist from Richmond, Va. Aurora works as an equity consultant all around the world. Aurora transitioned in 2018 and uses her platform to promote justice and equity. Aurora is the VP of Operations at HUMiN Inc, a Seattle-based Consultancy specializing in DEI and Management Consulting for Large Tech and Biopharma corporate clients. In 2019, Aurora founded Borealis Consulting RVA where she works as a speaker, researcher, performer, and producer of media that elevate queer BIPOC voices. Higgs also was invited to assist Del. Danica Roem (D-Prince William), in passing several pieces of legislation related to transgender rights in Virginia, including a bill to make transphobic discrimination by medical providers illegal. Her work in the Richmond community has earned her a number of honors in recent years. Aurora was a featured honoree in Style Weekly's 2019 Top 40 Under 40 Issue as well as in the Virginia Museum of History and Culture's Agents of Change Exhibit. The Advocate named Aurora a 2022 Champion of Pride from Around the US. And if you ever find yourself on MacArthur Ave in RVA, you can find a mural in honor of Aurora and her impact on the community. Aurora believes that her calling is to show up in spaces bravely and authentically, no matter the repercussions. Someone once said “Show up so BIG in the room that it feels too small after you've left.” Aurora holds this mantra close to her heart as she creates space for her communities and herself. If you like what you hear, we would like to encourage you to subscribe to our channel! We would also appreciate it if you would rate this channel by going here: RateThisPodcast.com/inclusiveaf We create this podcast as a labor of love. But if you would like to support this channel you can buy us a cup of coffee here: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/InclusiveAF
Kristen Johnson currently serves as the Director of Development and Community Engagement for REAL LIFE, a nonprofit organization providing holistic support and services to individuals impacted by incarceration, homelessness or substance use disorder. Kristen is also the President-Elect of the Junior League of Richmond and was recognized as one of Style Weekly's Top 40 Under 40. In her spare time, she loves cheering on the Washington Capitals and Nationals, photography, reading, and building Lego. Kristen currently resides in Richmond with her partner, Myke, and their two cats, Marauder and Wilson.Please rate us on Apple and Spotify and subscribe for free at mikeyopp.com This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit mikeyopp.substack.com/subscribe
Josh and Adam--both of whom are pretty big fans of Cutty in The Wire--are forced to watch an episode this week where Chad L. Coleman is seen Ray Rice-ing his special lady friend, played by the wonderful Meagan Good. That's not fun to watch, but it's also not fun to watch the SVUs acting against the victim's vehement wishes. It's even less fun to watch after Amaro (who is just back from beating a perp to within an inch of his life) blows up in the opening scene of "Spousal Privilege" (Season 16, Episode 8), making the audience wonder just what qualities in outburst-prone people determine that they get a second chance.Don't worry, the Munchie Boys also use this episode to revel in RedChanIt, take notice of how many of the SVUs were abused as children, and dive deep into the NYC's first black mayor, David Dinkins, who happens to have two lines in this episode. Sources:Walking Tall - Richard Foster, February 12, 2013 - Style Weekly, Richmond, VAFive years later, setting the record straight on the Ray Rice video - AJ Perez, September 7, 2019 - USA TodayPeyton Manning's squeaky-clean image was built on lies, as detailed in explosive court documents showing ugly smear campaign against his alleged sex assault victim - Shaun King, February 13, 2016 - New York Daily NewsThe Past Is Never Dead: Peyton Manning and Today's Jock-Rape Culture at Tennessee - Dave Zirin, February 15, 2016 - The NationOlder elite football players have reduced cardiac and osteoporosis risk factors - Nicole A Lynch, Alice S Ryan, Joyce Evans, Leslie I Katzel, and Andrew P Goldberg, Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, NIH National Library of Medicine, July 2007Prosecuting Domestic Violence Cases Without a Victim - New-York-Lawyers.orgMusic:Divorcio Suave - "Munchy Business"Thanks to our gracious Munchies on Patreon: Jeremy S, Jaclyn O, Pedro H, Amy Z, Nikki B, Louise M, Whitney C, D Reduble, Tony B, Zak B, Barry W, Karen D, Madelin K, Sara L, Miriam J, Drew D, Meghan M, Nicky R, Stuart, Jacqi B, Natalie T, Robyn S, Isabel P, and Christine L - y'all are the best!Be a Munchie, too! Support us on Patreon: patreon.com/munchmybensonFollow us on: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Post, and Reddit (Adam's Twitter and Josh's Twitter)Join our Discord: Munch Casts ServerCheck out Munch Merch: Munch Merch at ZazzleCheck out our guest appearances on: Storytellers from Ratchet Book Club…These Are There Stories (Adam and Josh)FMWL Pod (1st Time & 2nd Time)Chick-Lit at the MoviesVisit Our Website: Munch My BensonEmail the podcast: munchmybenson@gmail.comNext Week's Episode: Season 23, Episode 11 "Burning With Rage Forever"
Style Weekly writer Karen Newton joins fill-in host Jason Roop to preview New Year's Eve events in Richmond.
Former Editor of Style Weekly and founder of media and PR firm Springstory Jason Roop provides his weekend event update.
For many people around the world, ringing in the new year brings with it the promise of new hope, a fresh start, and renewed possibilities. But each year of Ricky Javon Gray's short life brought only violence, brutality, and death ending in a shocking murder spree over New Year's weekend 2006. Sources: “The Visitors” by Melissa Scott Sinclair for Style Weekly, October 20, 2010. https://www.styleweekly.com/richmond/the-visitors/Content?oid=1381013 “Man convicted of grisly murders of Virginia couple, daughters” Associated Press, August 17, 2006. “String of Slayings Shatters Richmond” by Carol Morello for The Washington Post, Jan 15, 2006. “Gray v. Commonwealth”, Supreme Court of Virginia, Decided June 8, 2007. Retrieved from FindLaw.com. “Cold Blooded” on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ck1M87CT1Tk “Lawyers describe childhood abuse as ‘sexual slavery' as they argue Ricky Gray should be spared from death” by Gary A. Harki for PilotOnline.com, Dec 13, 2016. “Ricky Gray's execution took more than 30 minutes. His attorneys want to know why” by Rachel Weiner for The Washington Post, Jan 19, 2017. “Virginia Becomes First Southern State to Abolish the Death Penalty” by Samantha O'Connell, AmericanBar.org, March 21, 2021. Sponsors: Best Fiends - Download Best Fiends for FREE on the App Store or Google Play. Hunt a Killer - www.huntakiller.com/once and use code ONCE for December discounts and limited edition merchandise. Parade - Get up to 45% off with code BFONCE at https://yourparade.com/BFONCE. Wondery - The Vanished - Follow The Vanished on Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, or listen early and ad-free by joining Wondery Plus. Smile - Smile, the hit horror movie is now streaming on Parmount+. Head to paramountplus.com to try it free. Links: Patreon - www.patreon.com/onceuponacrime to listen to all episodes ad-free and gain access to bonus episodes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Sources: “The Visitors” by Melissa Scott Sinclair for Style Weekly, October 20, 2010. https://www.styleweekly.com/richmond/the-visitors/Content?oid=1381013 “Man convicted of grisly murders of Virginia couple, daughters” Associated Press, August 17, 2006. “String of Slayings Shatters Richmond” by Carol Morello for The Washington Post, Jan 15, 2006. “Gray v. Commonwealth”, Supreme Court of Virginia, Decided June 8, 2007. Retrieved from FindLaw.com. “Cold Blooded” on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ck1M87CT1Tk “Lawyers describe childhood abuse as ‘sexual slavery' as they argue Ricky Gray should be spared from death” by Gary A. Harki for PilotOnline.com, Dec 13, 2016. “Ricky Gray's execution took more than 30 minutes. His attorneys want to know why” by Rachel Weiner for The Washington Post, Jan 19, 2017. “Virginia Becomes First Southern State to Abolish the Death Penalty” by Samantha O'Connell, AmericanBar.org, March 21, 2021.
Former Editor of Style Weekly and Founder of media and PR firm Jason Roop provides his weekend event update for the Thanksgiving weekend.
Former Editor of Style Weekly and Founder of Media and PR Firm Springstory Jason Roop provides his weekend event update.
Former Editor of Style Weekly and founder of media and PR firm Springstory Jason Roop provides his weekend event update.
Former Editor of Style Weekly and founder of media and PR firm Springstory Jason Roop provides his weekend event update.
Former Editor of Style Weekly and founder of media and PR firm Springstory Jason Roop provdes his weekend event update.
Noah-O is an innovative rapper and entrepreneur that has been a staple on the Virginia Hip Hop scene since his debut project Monument Avenue in 2014. He founded the Charged Up Entertainment record label and recently launched a flagship store in Richmond, Virginia. He's made appearances on Sway in The Morning and Hot 97 and was named one of Style Weekly's Top 40 Under 40. His latest release is the deeply personal album TRILLipino, which captures his experiences as a Filipino American growing up in San Francisco & Richmond, VA. In this hour long conversation we discuss Dissolving self-pressure to allow for creative experimentation Translating storytelling and poetry skills into a creative career And so much more! Noah-O's site: noah-o.com Noah-O's IG: @chargedupnoaho TRILLipino: Link to Album TRILLipino is Noah-O's most personal project to date. Original conceptualizing this album began in 2016. Noah wanted to create a body of work that would capture his experiences as a Filipino American growing up in San Francisco, CA & also Richmond, VA. Through having a desire to tell his own story he began to realize that the album to not only tells his family's story but also touches on the collective experience of the Filipino diaspora. Musically TRILLipino is a project that combines Noah's diverse influences From Bay Area Rap, Boom Bap to Lo Fi & Southern Hip Hop. Searching hi & lo to find a producer who could pull this together Noah met Suttahomz. A Brooklyn native who now resides in VA. Suttahomz is a seasoned veteran formerly of Roc Nation with production credits from Amerie to 2 Chainz. Through years of hard work, becoming friends and finding a cohesive sound, we now present "TRILLipino." Noah on Patreon: patreon.com/noahscalin Music by Jantrax --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Former Editor of Style Weekly and founder of media and PR firm Springstory Jason Roop provides his weekend event update.
Lindsay Hoffman is an entertainment news journalist who currently is working for Life and Style Weekly, US Weekly and In Touch Magazines. She is also the founder of MashupLA, which is a way that allows brands to connect to one another to create out of this world content. Hoffman also has a blog called, "Dose of Bliss." here she posts motivational and inspiring quotes and tips to encourage people and inspire them to always be happy and to believe in themselves. Creating platforms such as her blog, and MashupLA on top of being a journalist for the world of entertainment are huge life goals that Lindsay has accomplished, and it is no doubt that she's going to keep shining a light on people everywhere. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jayme-starr/support
Jared Shapiro / Founder & Managing Director of The Tag Experience Jared Shapiro is a brand strategist, marketing maven, and publicist with over 15 years of experience in the entertainment and media world as principal of marketing + strategy + PR agency The Tag Experience. As the former editor in chief of the Miami headquartered Ocean Drive Magazine, Jared utilized his 13 years of experience in NYC as the editorial director of In Touch Weekly and Life & Style Weekly (selling a combined 60 million copies per year on the newsstands) to further broaden Ocean Drive's international appeal and global reach. Jared is also a New York Times Best Selling Author and Forbes contributor. Jared has written for Us Weekly, Star, TV Guide, Men's Health and the New York Post (more…)
Regional Peer Support with Carla Heath About the Episode Date: October 25, 2021 Episode 12: Regional Peer Support with Carla Heath Summary As the profession of peer support continues to evolve in Virginia, new career ladders are developing. Learn more about the role of a Regional Peer Recovery Specialist Coordinator and how the position collaborates with other providers, shares recovery resources with those in Region 4 (Central Virginia), and assists in connecting the supports available to those who need them. Carla Heath has fifteen years of experience in the peer support field, developing, providing, and overseeing peer services. Her experience and skills acquired in serving as a co-founder and executive director of a non-profit center, combined with her work at Community Service Boards, gives her a unique perspective regarding peer and recovery-oriented services. She is a Peer Recovery Specialist trainer, a Certified Personal Medicine Coach trainer, an ECPR trainer, an Ethics facilitator, a Mentorship trainer, and a WRAP facilitator trainer. She has conducted numerous workshops at conferences and has given keynote addresses. Carla's story has been told in the book “Firewalkers,” as well as in articles in Richmond's Style Weekly and the Chesterfield Observer. She was honored to be a part of a segment on ABC News regarding recovery from mental health challenges. Resources Region 4 CPRS Booklet Region 4 YouTube Channel
mad big ups to Michael K. Williams, Style Weekly, Fuquan Johnsonmusic news includes Elton John, Lil Uzi Vert, Vince Neil, Stevie Wonder, Metallica & more.Slaps include ABBA, Kanye West, Drake, Anderson. Paak & Iron Maiden.Patreon - http://patreon.com/thehustleseasonBandcamp - http://thehustleseason.bandcamp.comTHS YouTube -https://bit.ly/THSYouTubeChannelInstagram - http://instagram.com/thehustleseasonTwitter - http://twitter.com/thehustleseasonSpring (fmrly Teespring) - https://bit.ly/HustleSeasonMerchFacebook - http://bit.ly/HustleSeasonFBThe Hustle Season on Apple Podcasts - https://bit.ly/TheHSPodcastAppleThe Hustle Season on Spotify Podcasts - https://bit.ly/TheHSPodcastSpotify
Good morning, RVA! It's 69 °F, and today looks hot and humid with sticky highs in the 90s. Hold on tight, though, because (slightly) cooler weather shows up tomorrow.Water coolerA quick update on two papers floating around during yesterday's Land Use, Housing and Transportation committee meeting! First, the Richmond 300 amendments resolution (RES. 2021-R026) which I say bad things about was recommended for continuance, and, second, Councilmember Jones's resolution to ask the CAO for a report on how to evenly distribute affordable housing across council districts (RES. 2021-R043) was recommended for approval. Stoked on the latter, and wondering if the former is in the process of death by a thousand continuations. Introduced back in April, RES. 2021-R026 is now one of the older items on Council's agenda. Shoutout to current Methuselatic Ordinance titleholder, ORD. 2019–275, which was introduced way back in October…of 2019!There's not a ton of new information in this article by VPM's Alan Rodriguez about the School Board's decision to issue their own RFP for a George Wythe replacement. However, I do think it's worth reading to squeeze out a little more of the situation's flavor. With School Board now having drawn a end-of-August line in the sand for issuing an RFP, how do we react when the RPS administration fails to meet that possibly (probably?) unrealistic deadline? Or what do we do if the administration somehow crushes it out of the park and pulls off getting an RFP out the door in the next 41 days—while also reopening in-person school for the first time in over 400 days?Look at this great news: Jessica Nocera in the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that Henrico County will give Church Road, way out by Short Pump and 295, a road diet! Not only will the County reduce the number of lanes, thereby slowing traffic, but they'll use the newly created extra space to install bike lanes. Check out these incredible results from their public engagement process: “71% of respondents overwhelmingly favored the final option.”Rich Griset in Style Weekly has an update on all of the the updates going on at a lot of the city's museums. The VMFA, Virginia Museum of History & Culture, Science Museum of Virginia, and the Valentine are all in the midst of expansions, renovations, and reorganizations. I'm glad these museums survived the last year and are even in a place to expand.I've spent the last 18 months aging in place and have lost track of the number of new arcades/barcades in Scott's Addition. So it is new news to me that DawnStar Video Games and Arcade will open not one but two mini pinball rooms. One, the Starcade will feature “brighter, more nostalgic machines” while the other, the Mooncade, will host “darker, horror themed machines.” Honestly, I love everything about this article by Noah Daboul in Richmond BizSense, especially the header image.This morning's longreadThe new real estate normalThis is what a housing crisis looks like!They'd seen more than 50 houses in the past three months, and the only thing that had changed about their housing search in Boise was that the prices continued to rise. They'd gone from looking at homes listed for a maximum of $400,000, to stretching their budget up to $450,000, to now considering spending $500,000 or more. “It's on the far, far end of our range,” Craig said. “We'd be looking at five times our old house payment.” “We need somewhere to live,” Heidi said. “If we keep going like this for another few months, we might be looking at the same places for $600,000. What choice do we have?”If you'd like your longread to show up here, go chip in a couple bucks on the ol' Patreon.Picture of the Day
Good morning, RVA! It's 72 °F, and today you can expect highs in the mid 90s with Feels Likes above and beyond 100 °F. We're deep in dangerous heat territory, and if you've got to go outside, be smart about it! We've got at least a couple more days before temperatures cool down.Water coolerAs of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports the seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths as: 165, 7, and 6, respectively. VDH reports a seven-day average of 15.4 new cases in and around Richmond (Richmond: 2.1; Henrico: 10.1, and Chesterfield: 3.1). Since this pandemic began, 1,358 people have died in the Richmond region. 46.6%, 58.2%, and 54.8% of the population in Richmond, Henrico, and Chesterfield have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.The big COVID-19 news this morning is that a WHO official urged the public to continue wearing masks indoors—even if fully vaccinated—as a precaution against the delta variant of COVID-19. The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health quickly followed suit and issued the same recommendation for its residents. I've seen this new variant-related mask recommendation framed a couple of ways in the media, mostly as “we don't know enough about the delta variant, and wearing masks helps keep you—even if you're vaccinated—from spreading this highly transmissible variant to folks who may be unvaccinated.” But I've also seen the actual quote from the WHO official, taken out of whatever context it may have originally been in, and it reads way more intense: “People cannot feel safe just because they had the two doses. They still need to protect themselves…Vaccine alone won't stop community transmission.” According to the NYT, yesterday the CDC “pointed to [its] existing guidance and gave no indication it would change.” So, here we are again with seemingly conflicting mask guidance, and I don't love it! To give you some context on the local spread of the delta variant, the VDH Variants of Concern dashboard reports 48 total cases in Virginia, with zero in Richmond, 14 in Henrico, and three in Chesterfield.Kenya Hunter at the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that Richmond Public Schools “anticipates a 14 percentage point boost in its graduation rate, with Latino students and economically disadvantaged students seeing the most significant gains.” This year, according to preliminary figures, 85.7% of students will graduate on time, compared to 71.6% last year. That's a lot of dang percentage points to increase, and I wonder what it all means given the year students just had. Will those numbers hold for next year? Was something about virtual learning better for high school students? Or maybe, as RPS's Chief Academic Officer Tracy Epp, says “This is the culmination of three years—we're seeing that we're finally gaining traction, based on the past three years of our efforts.”Quick City Council update: Last night Council passed all of the Jackson Ward street dedication ordinances. DPW will now get to hanging up some new signage!I'm fascinated by ghost kitchens, and Richmond BizSense's Mike Platania reports that Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick will bring one to Broad Street near Arthur Ashe Boulevard. If I'm being honest with myself, I'm mostly fascinated by the generic, keyword-heavy names that some delivery-only restaurants using ghost kitchens come up with. Mine would be called “Wings are Good.”Twitter user Doug Allen made this super useful map of all (?) the Richmond-area bike shops. I know bike shops are like tacos—everyone has a favorite spot—but, if you don't already have a favorite of your own, check out the map and try one out near you. I definitely prefer taking my bike(s) to the shop and having them actually fix a thing rather than watching a YouTube and getting frustrated that my brain can't understand simple machines for some reason.Brent Baldwin at Style Weekly talked to Chris Haynie, cofounder of Happy Trees Agricultural Supply, about how to grow marijuana in your house. Honestly, sounds waaaaay too complicated for me. I do love this quote, though, which makes me feel like I could at least keep a plant alive as an ornamental, “Cannabis is not some crazy plant that aliens gave us from some other world, it grows like a pepper, man. It's a fast-flowering annual.”The Washington Post has a nice article from a couple weeks back about how Virginia is crushing it when it comes to expanding passenger rail. It'll still take the better part of a decade to realize some of the planned improvements, but I'm pretty stoked to take the train everywhere when I'm retired.This morning's longreadWhy ‘tiny forests' are popping up in big citiesI live in a very shady, tree-filled neighborhood—which we know is because where I live was never redlined and has seen decades of investment in its trees and other infrastructure. Many neighborhoods near me—in fact, the one just across the street—haven't had the benefit of all that investment and of all those trees and sits sweltering and shadeless in 100 °F heat. I wonder if strategic tiny forests could be part of the solution?The small-footprint projects are based on the work of Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki, who, beginning in the 1970s, pioneered a method of planting young indigenous species close together to quickly regenerate forests on degraded land. Miyawaki, who extensively studied and catalogued the vegetation of Japan, surveyed forests near potential Tiny Forest sites for a mixture of their main species. “The planting should center on the primary trees of the location, and following the laws of the natural forest,” he wrote in a 2006 essay upon accepting the Blue Planet award. Competing for light, the saplings grow quickly, explained Miyawaki's collaborator Kazue Fujiwara. According to Fujiwara, the method can work anywhere, even in plots as small as one meter wide, though she said a minimum of three meters is easier to plant a mix of species.If you'd like your longread to show up here, go chip in a couple bucks on the ol' Patreon.Picture of the DayTake-out bike is back!
Good morning, RVA! It's 73 °F, and, guess what? More of the same! Expect hot, sticky highs in the 90s, with even hotter Feels Likes, plus a possibility for rain this evening. Cooler temperatures move in tomorrow, though!Water coolerAs of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports the seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths as: 202, 35, and 8.4, respectively. VDH reports a seven-day average of 23.6 new cases in and around Richmond (Richmond: 7.7; Henrico: 6.4, and Chesterfield: 9.4). Since this pandemic began, 1,330 people have died in the Richmond region. 44.4%, 55.5%, and 51.9% of the population in Richmond, Henrico, and Chesterfield have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.Biden Goal update! As of this morning, 68.2% of adult Virginians have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. So close! But gains of just 0.1% per day will push the Commonwealth's target for hitting the 70% goal out to around June 26th. I've become irrationally interested in this number!The Virginia Public Access Project has the results of last night's Democratic Primary. Here's what November's statewide ticket will look like: For governor, Terry McAuliffe; for lieutenant governor, Hala Ayala; and for Attorney General, Mark Herring. Locally, both incumbents, Colette McEachin and Antoinette Irving won their Commonwealth's Attorney and Sheriff races respectively. You can check out the results of the General Assembly primaries here, which feature a lot of victorious incumbents as well. As per usual, I didn't vote for a lot of these folks, but I'm excited to support them heading into November. I like the moment after primaries where we can all take a moment, regroup, and get on the same page. Speaking of same page, look at this map of localities that went for McAuliffe—it's all of them, like, 100% of them. That's impressive. Now, what I want to see, is former Governor McAuliffe turn on his money printing machine and start out raising Republic candidate Youngkin ASAP. Virginia! We have elections every year! It's exhausting!The Richmond Land Bank has put out an RFP for the former Bank of America branch building and the attached parking lot at 1307 E. Brookland Park Boulevard—that's right off the roundabout at Six Points. The nearby Six Points Innovation Center has already done some community engagement work, and applicants should consider submitting proposals for a grocery store, restaurant, coffee shop, cafe, bakery, community center, or doctor's office. Or maybe some clever combination (or something else entirely!). You should tap through and read that community engagement report, though, regardless of your interest in this property. It's a great example of how to put together something like that. Anyway, I'm not sure how many developers read this email, but surely a few are within at least a half a Kevin Bacon of some of y'all—so please share this really interesting opportunity in Highland Park with the developers in your lives.Via this story in the Richmond Times-Dispatch about political donations and casinos, here's a long list of the local investors involved in the ONE casino project. It's a list I've not seen before, and you'll definitely recognize some of these names. Fascinating. I wonder if a similarly lengthy list existed for the 2nd District casino proposal? As for the political donations stuff, I know “and are you surprised?” is not a helpful response, but it's what I feel in my heart. Because I am a complex and inconsistent human, I will hold my general disgust with money in politics in tension with the above sentence I wrote about how I hope McAuliffe out money-in-politics his Republican challenger.VPM's Whittney Evans reports that, yesterday, the Virginia Supreme Court heard the Governor's case about removing the Lee Monument. Evans says it could be six to nine weeks before the Court issues an opinion. Bleh.RRHA will hold two public meetings today to review their Annual Agency Plans and hear public comment on them. The first meeting kicks off at 12:00 PM and the second at 5:30 PM. Zoom info on the aforelinked website. If you want to dig into those plans ahead of the meeting, you can do so here.Rich Griset at Style Weekly talked with a handful of local folks who run Instagram accounts dedicated to documenting very specific foods—like nachos, cheese fries, or, specifically, the Bloody Mary at Bamboo. I have yet to find a nacho that surpasses the old Bellytimber nachos, but I've got an open mind (and stomach).This morning's longreadA Love Letter to Black Queers in the Rural SouthThe Scalawag newsletter, which is a wonderful newsletter y'all should subscribe to, has put together a great set of articles and essays for Pride. Here's one that I thought was beautifully written.I wish my narrators spoke of Souths that were different from my own. But they tell me what I know too well about Southern queer and transgender people navigating a lack of resolution with acceptance—bound by religious mores—and their own God-given identities. For my narrators, being out offers little reprieve. There remains a binding expectation to not be too open—an expectation that is complicated by the lingering hold of HIV and the way it divulges too much about sex or who one might love. The result is disconnection.If you'd like your longread to show up here, go chip in a couple bucks on the ol' Patreon.Picture of the DayVolunteer cucumber plant or alien facehugger?
Good morning, RVA! It's 58 °F, and you can expect temperate highs in the 80s today followed by a chance for storms this evening. Same deal for the next couple of days, too. Maybe most of the rain will miss us?Water coolerAs of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports the seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths as: 262, 43, and 16.3, respectively. VDH reports a seven-day average of 29.9 new cases in and around Richmond (Richmond: 5.4; Henrico: 14.3, and Chesterfield: 10.1). Since this pandemic began, 1,328 people have died in the Richmond region. 43.5%, 54.3%, and 50.7% of the population in Richmond, Henrico, and Chesterfield have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Good-looking averages continue! I do want to raise a tiny yellow flag that these numbers may go up in the coming days as folks shake off the long weekend and get back to entering data into spreadsheets. Prepare yourself for that, and don't freak out too much if it happens.As things here shift out of the pandemic and into whatever the next phase of American life looks like, I think it's important to remember that a lot of places around the world are still fighting a horrible battle with COVID-19. Here's a short New York Times piece checking in with the places across the globe who are shutting down schools and re-entering a summer lockdown.Yesterday, I mentioned a forthcoming way to get involved in planning the next phase of RVA Bike Share, and then someone sent me the this survey you can fill out that includes a map of proposed locations for new stations. I asked and then received! I can't find an official link to the survey on the City's website, so maybe take with you a tiny grain of salt? Anyway, the included map divides the city into six pizza-pie slices instead of the typical north, south, east, and west quadrants, which is clever. I don't think I've seen anyone do that before, and it matches my mental model of “parts of the city” pretty well. It's great to finally see a handful of stations south of the river, a few on the Northside, and a decent-sized expansion into the East End (see, there I go with quadrants). The middle of the Fan is conspicuously absent of stations, just as it's conspicuously absent of useful public transit. And, if it were me, I'd move one of the Brookland Park Boulevard stations over to Brook Road. Honestly, other than a few quibbles, the map looks pretty good. We'll see how quickly the Department of Public Works can run this engagement process, finalize the station locations, and then get the stations on the ground.The Richmond Times-Dispatch's Michael Paul Williams writes about Richmond and Henrico's attempts to put together Civilian Review Boards. Williams does a good job in this piece of tying local and national events together to paint a bleak picture of our leaders' willingness to hold police accountable for their actions: “The electability of any politician is predicated on public safety — or more specifically, the perceived safety of white people. And America always has had a short attention span and limited endurance when it comes to sustaining the work of social justice.”Also in the RTD, Holly Prestidge has a nice piece about Front Porch Cafe's in-person reopening. Check this out: “On top of the cafe being a valuable resource for the community, none of the roughly eight Front Porch employees lost their jobs during that time last year…” I'm really interested in how restaurants that have started to reopen attract and retain employees. Will things go back to the way they were? Will they be any different? I guess this conversation, and a million other ones, are, in some ways, parallels to the police Civilian Review Board conversation above.Richmond's Department of Public Utilities has opened up their second phase of utility relief funding, which comes from CARES Act money. If you've fallen behind on your utility bills as a result of…all of this…tap the previous link and fill out the application right now. It's a first-come, first-served situation and the program launched yesterday, so if you're planning to apply you better get after it.Brent Baldwin at Style Weekly answers a question I've had for a couple of days now: What happens to all of these outdoor concerts that already sold tickets before the Governor lifted capacity caps? Sounds like most promoters and organizers will leave things be for this season, rather than switch things up after folks already bought tickets. I'm personally not ready for this, but as Baldwin says: “If vaccinated, why not dive back in fully? I can't think of a sweatier, booty bumpin' show more likely to get up close and personal than New Orleans' queen of bounce, Big Freedia, performing June 11 at Richmond Music Hall.”Via /r/rva this map of the shortest routes by road to Richmond from anywhere in Virginia. It definitely reminds me of blood vessels or trees—take your pick.This morning's longreadHome Truths: How HGTV, Magnolia, and Netflix Are Building a Massive Space in the StreamI don't know why, but I will always read something about home improvement TV shows and people—I don't even watch any of this stuff!And there are emerging competitors in the TV market, like the upcoming Magnolia Network—a television outlet under the lifestyle company started by former HGTV stars Chip and Joanna Gaines—and Netflix, which is swiftly erecting structures on the territory first settled by HGTV. If one wanted to, as I often have, one could spend whole weeks awash in nothing but discourse about marble countertops versus quartz ones, bearing happy witness to the ongoing wars between Shaker cabinets and the equally craved and dreaded open shelving. (Dreaded by me, anyway; I could never abide such a constant invitation to gaze at my own disorganization.) The domestic-design media boom has turned the idea of home into something terribly adaptable, full of possibility and never quite nice enough.If you'd like your longread to show up here, go chip in a couple bucks on the ol' Patreon.Picture of the DayCan you make tea from hops?
Good morning, RVA! It’s 68 °F, and today looks hot—but not as hot as yesterday. Expect highs near 90 °F, and, luckily, NBC12’s Andrew Freiden says to expect less humidity soaking through your shirts.Water coolerAs of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports the seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths as: 394, 40, and 13.6, respectively. VDH reports a seven-day average of 29.9 new cases in and around Richmond (Richmond: 5.4; Henrico: 14.3, and Chesterfield: 10.1). Since this pandemic began, 1,324 people have died in the Richmond region. 42.6%, 53.1%, and 49.6% of the population in Richmond, Henrico, and Chesterfield have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. For whatever reason, Chesterfield actually reported -43 new cases yesterday, so that accounts for the significant drop in its seven-day average of new cases. Data Reporting: There’s always something.Now that Virginia is so dang close to reaching President Biden’s goal of 70% of adults with at least one does by July 4th, I cannot stop watching the numbers slowwwwwly tick upwards. Two days ago 65.7% of Virginia’s adults had one dose, today 66.2%. Forgetting for a second that fewer people are making the decision to get vaccinated each day and pretending that we’ll just continue along at the same rate we’re seeing right now, we should hit Biden’s goal on June 12th. Mark your calendars (which is a thing I actually just did)!Chris Suarez at the Richmond Times-Dispatch went through the terms sheet of the newly put-forth casino project so you don’t have to (but you totally still can if you’re into that sort of thing). Suarez reports that the casino would give the City a $25 million cash payment within 30 days of the referendum (should it pass, of course), $30,000 annual payments to Richmond Public Schools for five years, reimburse the City for up to $500,000 it spent during the casino evaluation process, and, of course, a chunk of the gambling-related revenue each year. And that’s just a short list, the terms sheet is 20 pages long and includes all sorts of things about jobs, wages, construction, and even a $325,000 annual payment to “support transit mobility solutions to support travel of its employees to and from work.” I’m interested in all of these things, but I’m particularly interested in what happens to that $25 million in cash. If it were me, I’d put it in a special fund dedicated specifically for new infrastructure improvements on the Southside with a focus on the neighborhoods near the casino. I certainly would not let it end up in the general fund, and I would be really careful to not let this $25 million get used to replace funding already earmarked for Southside projects. This is new money and should be used for new projects. I wonder if Council will start putting together a plan for all this hypothetical new money before the actual referendum as a way to sell the public on the casino?Also, the RTD continues their ongoing series talking to Richmonders one year after the murder of George Floyd. Make some time to read this piece by Kenya Hunter about Corey Stuckey, founder of the 381 Movement. You might recognize Stuckey and the 381 Movement, because recently they’ve been focused on “trying to convince the School Board to rescind a resolution that gave the board control over school construction.” I’ll tell you what, it’s life-giving to see movements built during last summer grow and expand into influencing some of the important (but day-to-day) policies of our city.Another sign that post-pandemic life finds a way: Mary Scott Hardaway has a list of newly opened, recently opened, and newly reopened restaurants in Style Weekly.It’s Thursday which means the Richmond and Henrico Health Districts will host a free COVID-19 community testing event at Diversity Thrift (1407 Sherwood Avenue) from 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM.This morning’s longreadWeekly Obsession: CicadasQuartz has these lovely Obsession emails, put together by Friend of the Email Susan Howson, to which you should most certainly subscribe. This week they tackle cicadas, which are big and weird but also pretty cool.Love them or hate them (at Quartz, we’re divided), they are undeniably a net positive for our ecosystem. They don’t damage plants once they emerge from the ground. They don’t bite, they don’t spread disease, they feed a lot of other wildlife, and their exoskeletons decompose into nice tree fertilizer. In a lot of ways, periodical cicadas are one of nature’s more spectacular reminders that, for the most part, the planet is still operational. If Brood X hadn’t made its entrance, it would have been a truly terrifying sign. It may feel like a bug invasion, but cicadas have been doing their thing for hundreds of millions of years. How long have you been doing yours?If you’d like your longread to show up here, go chip in a couple bucks on the ol’ Patreon.Picture of the Day
In episode 62 of The Charity Charge Show, Stephen speaks with Julia Warren, Founder & Executive Director at Celebrate RVA, with the mission to give disadvantaged children a memorable birthday celebration in a safe and fun environment. She currently serves as the Executive Director and is a firm believer in the power of a celebration and how joy can impact a child's heart. Passionate about creating meaningful impact, Julia also works closely with corporate and small business sponsors to help create a culture of community, giving, and philanthropy. She has been named as one of STYLE Weekly's 2019 Top 40 Under 40, The Prospect's 20 Under 20, The Law Firm of Allen & Allen's 2015 Hometown Heroes, and Richmond Inno's Top 25 under 25.
Jack Lauterback got his start as a writer, blogging about his adventures in the Richmond bar scene. His funny and honest articles about bartending, drinking, and relationships led to a column in Style Weekly, where he stayed for years. Now, you can find him on the Richmond morning radio program he co-hosts with Melissa Chase at 103.7 FM. Colin and Jack talk about the Richmond bar scene, the writing life, and some jobs that aren't worth doing. It's happy hour at American Rambler!
Check out my interview with Dr. Shantell Malachi of Richmond Virginia, Founder & Executive Director, Dress for Success Central Virginia, Chief Executive Officer at SheEmpowers™ International, Author of “Career Couture: The Modern Guide to Redefining Your Career” available on Amazon, 2012 Style Weekly's Top 40 under 40. We chop it up about empowering women to pursue greater entrepreneur ventures and get involved in philanthropy while discussing how to run an organization that caters to helping people and solving common obstacles that women face in professional and personal settings. Dress for Success is a social service DFS provides services to women who are in a disadvantaged situations or facing some unusual obstacles, such as fleeing domestic violence, reentering the workforce, trying to get back on their feet. SheEmpowers, Shantell describes, is taking the work of DFS a step further. Most of the women who are apart of SheEmpowers are professional women who are already started on the path of entrepreneurship, but for some reason are now stuck. The organization caters to women who need an extra push to step their business up to the next level. We touch about the importance of fulfilling a need in your business in order to be successful. Shantell touches on the different aspects of building an organization that caters to the needs of women of diverse backgrounds, and how helping them helps the overall community. The goal is to transform more women into being leaders in their individual businesses and careers, therefore empowering others to follow their example. Dress for Success Central Virginia https://centralvirginia.dressforsuccess.org/ SheEmpowers™ www.sheempowers.org/
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