Disclaimer: The following incidents are preliminary in nature and are subject to change after investigation. Please note that the entries listed below do not cover every incident from overnight. The listings are subject to the judgment of staff officers’ sense of what is noteworthy.

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The July 2008 edition of Richmond Magazine features a story on LISC and their efforts to help bring affordable housing (among other things) to Petersburg: Extreme Makeover - Petersburg’s revitalization plans take shape. Page 145.

Also featured in the July issue of Richmond Magazine: Petersburg Tees Off, by Cliff Davis, page 135, on the new Dogwood Trace Golf Course.

In conjunction with it’s regular monthly meeting, the Harding Area Neighborhood Association will host Mayor Annie Mickens-Councilwoman, 5th Ward, as she conducts the quarterly ward meeting. The meeting will take place at the Tabernacle Baptist Church’s Family Life Center located on Halifax Street.  The meeting will start at 6:00pm.

Yesterday’s RTD has a piece on how the National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Program has helped several of our area youth.

Today’s RTD has a mixed media piece on the neglect of East View Cemetery, which the article says borders Blandford Cemetery.

Dominion’s electricity outage map for the greater Richmond area.

Today’s P-I notes that the Efficiency Review will be presented to the city, and then the public, in the near future. Happy words. But I take issue with the suggestion that the two public forums were ’sparsely’ attended. I was present at the meeting at Tabernacle, and I made a rough estimate of 50 people who were very engaged in the process. So I guess if 50 people present and accounted for constitutes ’sparse attendance’, I’m kinda curious what constitutes a well-attended meeting? Interestingly, however, the article didn’t mention whether each of our City Council members submit their surveys to the Efficiency Review consultants - surveys intended to learn our elected reps’ views of core vs. desired levels of service.

The Main Gallery at PAAL presents SCENES FROM THE CARRIBEAN, oil paintings by Richard Leslie.  Mr. Leslie is originally from Belize City, British Honduras, and now resides in Chesterfield County.  He is a former President of PAAL, and has shown his work frequently in this area. Mr. Leslie will also be showing portraits, for which he is well known.
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Click here to read the agenda.

Also, please note that the city website now provides ARB-related agendas, minutes, and meeting schedule (complete with application deadlines) for the calendar year.

1) Petersburg jobless rate rises from 6% to 7% from April to May - via the RTD
2) Petersburg police want info in relation to theft of catalytic convertors, via Fox News (no link).

There will be a meeting with Petersburg Police Chief John Dixon III on how the citizens can assist the police towards a safer community. The meeting will be July 8, 6:00pm at Christ & Grace Episcopal Church, 1545 S. Sycamore Street, upstairs in the annex.

The Petersburg City Public Schools announces its district-level winner for the 2008 Mary V. Bicouvaris Teacher of the Year award, Ms. Hallie Powers, who teaches English at Petersburg High School. Ms. Powers will now compete for the honor of Regional Teacher of the Year. The winner of that competition will compete for statewide and possibly national honors.
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Aaron Cudjoe, a student at Vernon Johns Middle School in Petersburg, was honored at the Petersburg City Public Schools Board Meeting earlier this year. Aaron was one of 36 students, and the only one from the Tri-Cities, to win in the James River Chapter division of the 2008 Virginia Parent Teacher Association (PTA)’s annual Citizenship Essay Contest. This year’s theme was: Education, the Foundation of Freedom. “It’s important for students to get their ideas and their talents out there, for people to see the things that they can do,” said John Hart, president of the Petersburg Citywide PTA.

A reader writes in: “does anyone remember Slim’s Bar & Grill? It was there in the 1940’s to 50’s and catered to U.S. Servicemen? It was run by Jules “Slim” Schwartz and his brothers. I am looking to see if there is any history on that place.”

Cameron Foundation-sponsored Focus INC workshops offered in July are as follows:
Thursday, July 10th - Strategic Planning: Phase I
Wednesday, July 16th - Selling Ideas: The Art of Influence and Negotiation
Monday, July 21st - Program Evaluation 101: To Prove or Improve Something
Thursday, July 31st - Nonprofit Retirement Plans
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Five men were honored on June 18, at the Board meeting of the Petersburg City Public Schools, by R.E. Lee Elementary School Principal Barbara Patterson. These members of the Petersburg Kiwanis Club provided Lee students with supplies and other educational tools during May and June of the 2007-2008 school year. Their goal was to revive the long-standing Kiwanis “Terrific Kids Program” in Petersburg.
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Sycamore Rouge will host a “STELLA!” Calling Contest/FUNdraiser at the upcoming Friday for the Arts, July 11 at 8pm. The winner will receive two tickets to the opening night of A Streetcar Named Desire (which will be July 18)! The entry fee to participate in the contest is $10.

Not familiar with the Marlon Brando version? Check this:

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Click here to read the agenda.

The week of July 21 - 25, the Petersburg Area Art League will sponsor a Summer Arts Camp, geared toward young artists eager to learn exciting art techniques. Five different area artists will each take a day of that week to instruct in the following art forms: Collage, Mono-printing, Cartooning, Bookmaking, and Portfolio Building.
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Sagan Lacy, a student of animation at the Savannah College of Art and Design, will offer a class on cartooning and caricature at Petersburg Area Art League.
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The Petersburg Library Foundation has begun its capital raising campaign for the new headquarters of the Petersburg Public Library System. An interesting feature on PLF’s related website is a link to take a virtual tour.

As a part of its campaign raising efforts, today the Petersburg Library Foundation announced that it has received a $1,000 donation from Quota International of Petersburg toward the building of a new Petersburg Public Library headquarters.
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Click here to read the agenda.

The meeting was insanely informative. Here are my notes.

The first in-depth assessment of the site of Battersea, the 1768 estate of Col. John Banister is beginning this week in Petersburg.  Banister was Petersburg’s first Mayor and a prominent figure in colonial Virginia: a businessman, barrister, patriot and Revolutionary War leader. The archaeological investigation of the Battersea villa and it’s 37 acres, owned by the City of Petersburg since 1985, is made possible by a $30,000 grant from the Cameron Foundation, a non-profit devoted to benefit Petersburg and the tri-cities area. Cultural Resources Inc., of Richmond was contracted by Battersea Inc. to conduct the survey.
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